VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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ALMANAC

Updated: JULY 6, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Scattered thunderstorms

Temp: 30oc

Humidity: 84%

Sunrise: 5:40 AM

Sunset: 6:44 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Ashtami: Jul 06 07:48 PM to Jul 07 07:28 PM

Navami: Jul 07 07:28 PMto Jul 08 06:25 PM

Nakshatram: Hasta: Jul 06 11:44 AM

to Jul 07 12:19 PM

Chitra: Jul 07 12:20 PMto Jul 08 12:13 PM

Rahukalam: 1:58 PM to 3:36 PM

Yamagandam: 5:51 AM to 7:28 AM

Varjyam: 08:17 PM to 09:53 PM

Gulika: 10:43 AM to 12:20 PM

Amritakalam: 06:11 AM to 07:49 AM

Abhijit Muhurtham:11:55 AM to 12:47 PM

TTOODDAAYY

VIJAYAWADA WEATHER

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministerand YSR Congress supremo YSJagan Mohan Reddy is set tomake certain significantannouncements concerning theparty structure during the partyplenary meeting to be held atGuntur on 8th and 9th July.

Top sources close to Jagan saidthat he, following in the footstepsof Tamil Nadu former chief min-ister and AIDMK general secre-tary late J Jayalalitha, would makehimself the permanent presidentof YSR Congress Party, while hismother YS Vijayamma would bemade the permanent honorarypresident of the party.

Jagan set to tightengrip over party

Interestingly, no political party hasdiscussed media during its plenary so far.For the first time, YSR Congress Partyhas decided to discuss yello media. After2017, the YSR Congress party is holdingits plenary meetings now. Three yearsafter the party came to power with amassive mandate, for the first time, theparty is holding plenary session.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Apart from delivering governmentprogrammes and schemes at thedoorsteps of the beneficiaries, the vol-unteer network and grama/ward sec-retariat system introduced by theYSRCP government has also come inhandy for the ruling party MLAs toremind the beneficiaries with ‘pinpoint’ details about the financialassistance they have received from thegovernment in the past three yearsunder several schemes.

To calculate and arrive to theexact amount of financial assistanceeach beneficiary among the total 1.67crore families has received with abreakup of each scheme in the lastthree years would have been an her-culean and mammoth task if not forthe presence of the new volunteer andvillage/ward secretariat system thatwas introduced as part of the decen-tralisation of governance.

Every MLA, who has been visitingevery family and house under theirrespective constituency as part ofGadapa Gadapaku ManaPrabhutvam, is provided with a let-

ter having the details of the financialassistance each member of the fam-ily has received. For instance, awoman beneficiary living under oneof the ward secretariats ofPattabhipuram area in Guntur hasreceived a total Rs 1,40,876 financialassistance under several DBT schemesof the government in the past threeyears. The breakup details of the totalamount was Rs 86,000 under YSRpension Kanuka, Rs 4,800 under YSRSunna Vaddi , Rs 15,000 under EBCnestham and Rs 35,000 under YSRAsara.

“Reminding the beneficiary of thetotal amount received along withdetailed breakup will definitely havean impact on them. This is one wayof telling or reminding the benefici-

aries what the government did tothem directly without any confusionor fuss. Most governments fail or losein polls even after doing good workfor not communicating it properly tothe public. This gap has been filledwith Gadapa Gadapaku ManaPrabhutvam programme with thehelp of the data,” said a YSRCP MLA.

Until now, the present governmenthas given Rs 1.36 lakh crore to the ben-eficiaries under several DBT schemes.Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy, while talking about the GadapaGadapaku programme, stressed theimportance of the mass contact pro-gramme and directed them to ensurethat every MLA participated in it.

The prime objective of the GadapaGadapaku Mana Prabhutvam, accord-ing to the government, is to createawareness among the public about theschemes and programmes of thegovernment; to ensure that the ben-efits reach the last mile beneficiary cov-ering all the eligible beneficiaries, andseek feedback /suggestions from thepublic to further improve the servicedelivery.

Data on DBT financial aid a boon for YSRCP

Volunteer andvillage/wardsecretariat systemrecords all details aboutfinancial assistancepeople received underseveral schemes

mThe system helping MLAs during house visits

PNS nNEW DELHI

The government is in the process ofreviving and popularising Indian liter-ature banned during the British rule aspart of its efforts to celebrate 75 years ofIndia's Independence, officials saidWednesday.

As part of the 'Azadi ka AmritMahotsav' celebrations, the CultureMinistry has identified poems, writingsand publications that the British Rajbanned, primarily due to their patriot-ic fervour, and put them together as cat-alogues for people to read and appre-ciate. The catalogues have been pub-lished on the official website for the proj-ect. These literary works are in differ-ent Indian languages, including Bengali,Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Punjabi, Sindhi,Telugu, Gujarati and Tamil. These aremostly revolutionary pieces pennedduring India's struggle forIndependence and were considered"dangerous" to the "security" of theBritish rule in India.

In a move to make these literary

works popular among the masses, theCulture Ministry has enrolled the serv-ices of Union ministers to recite poemsparticular to their region which havebeen uploaded on the official website.

Union Minister of EducationDharmendra Pradhan can be seenreciting the poem 'Daridra Nian' byOdia poet Gangadhar Mishra, HealthMinister Mansukh Mandaviya recitedGujrati poem 'Kasumbi No Rang'from the book Sindhudo by poetJhaverchand Meghani and Culture andTourism Minister G Kishan Reddy read

'Bharatha Matha Geetham' by Telugupoets Vaddadhi Seetharaamanjaneyuluand Pudipeddhi Kashi ViswanathaSashtri. All these works were bannedduring British rule.

Officials also highlighted the CultureMinistry will encourage people tohoist the national flag in their homesin the week ahead of August 15.Officials said the Har Ghar Tiranga'scheme will reach out to over 20 crorehomes on Independence Day. Thecampaign will be officially launched bymid-July. Senior officials said the

scheme envisages that people will buythe flags made by local self-help groupsgiving a fillip to the economy.

They also said the ministry has tiedup with e-commerce firms to ensurethat flags are sold online to meet theanticipated rise in demand. Once theprogramme is officially launched,campaigns will be undertaken to raiseawareness on Tricolour.

Culture Secretary Govind Mohan saidin the last 15 months of Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav celebrations over 47,000 pro-grammes have been conducted.

"From commemorating unsungheroes of freedom struggle to celebrat-ing India's achievements throughDhara: An ode to Indian knowledgesystems, documenting local history viadigital district repository, celebratingIndia's literary contributions, spot-lighting states and their contribution tothe freedom struggle, and poetrybased on banned literature, Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav aims to connect peo-ple to their past and inspire them to par-ticipate in India's progress as we makeour way through Amrit Kaal (periodof 25 years from 2022-2047)," he said.

Govt reviving literary works banned during British ruleCulture and TourismMinister G KishanReddy read 'BharathaMatha Geetham' byTelugu poets VaddadhiSeetharaamanjaneyuluand Pudipeddhi KashiViswanatha Sashtri.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In spite of the intense search oper-ation conducted by the Coast Guardand disaster management teams, thefour missing fishermen could not betraced till Wednesday evening. Thefour fishermen, belonging toCambel Pet of Machilipatnam, wentmissing after the boat engine devel-oped technical problems in the seanear Antarvedi on July 3. The Navy,Coast Guard and disaster manage-ment teams began the search withchoppers on Tuesday and continuedthe search on Wednesday, too.

One chopper was pressed into thesearch operation for the missing fish-ermen between Kakinada andVisakhapatnam till 5 pm onWednesday. But, there was no infor-mation about the missing boat.Besides, two boats were also pressedinto service to trace the missing fish-ermen. Viswanadhapalli ChinaMastan, 51, Ramani ChinaNancharaiah, 64, Chekka NarasimhaRao, 51, and Moka VenkateswaraRao, 44, along with other fishermenventured into the sea five days ago.

Four fishermenstill untraced

LPG price hikedby Rs 50; ratesup by Rs 244

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, Ministry ofAgriculture and Farmers Welfare, haslauded the Andhra Pradesh Stategovernment for providing qualityseeds, fertilisers and pesticides at YSRRythu Bharosa Kendras (RBK) andteaching farmers modern cultivationtechniques.

A committee of higher officials ledby Ahuja visited the Integrated CallCentre at the RBK at Vanukuru ofPenamaluru mandal and paddyfields in Krishna district onWednesday.

Ahuja verified the services provid-ed to the farmers by the RBK. He vis-ited the RBK’s live studio and listenedto how the staff responded when the

farmers made phone calls and whatsuggestions they gave.

Later, Ahuja said that AndhraPradesh was the only State to main-tain the RBKs and it had ISO certifi-cate for the quality services. He

enquired about the MSP for paddyand other products. He was happy tomeet a few farmers who were goingto the RBKs to sell their produce.

The officials also went to paddyfields and inspected the Rythu

Radham Veterinary Mobile Vehicle.Later, they visited the YSR IntegratedAgri Testing Lab that provides serv-ices to the farmers free of cost.

Manoj Ahuja appreciated the Stategovernment and the AgricultureDepartment for supplying qualityseeds, fertilisers and pesticides to thefarmers.

Ministry of Agriculture,Cooperation, Farmers Welfare JointSecretary Ritish Chowhan, AssistantCommissioner K Suneel, NodalOfficer Azam Karan, AndhraPradesh Agriculture DepartmentSpecial Chief Secretary PunamMalakondaiah, Krishna District RBKJoint Director Sridhar, AgricultureOfficer Manohar Rao and otherswere present.

Union Agriculture Secretary’s pat for RBKs

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Department of Expenditure,Ministry of Finance, on Wednesdayreleased the fourth monthly instal-ment of the Post Devolution RevenueDeficit (PDRD) Grant to AndhraPradesh, along with 13 other States.

The Centre released Rs 879.08crore to Andhra Pradesh for themonth of July. A total of Rs. 7,183.42crore was released to 14 States. Thegrant has been released as per the rec-ommendations of the 15th Finance

Commission. The 15th Finance Commission has

recommended a total Post DevolutionRevenue Deficit Grant of Rs. 86,201crore to 14 States for the financial year2022-23. The grant is released by theDepartment of Expenditure to therecommended States in 12 equatedmonthly instalments. With the releaseof fourth instalment for July, the totalamount of Revenue Deficit Grantsreleased to the States in 2022-23 hasgone up to Rs. 28733.67 crore.

The Post Devolution Revenue

Deficit Grants are provided to theStates under Article 275 of theConstitution. The grants are releasedto the States as per the recommenda-tions of the successive FinanceCommissions to meet the gap inRevenue Accounts of the States postdevolution.

The eligibility of States to receivethis grant and the quantum of grantfor the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26 was decided by the 15thCommission based on the gapbetween assessment of revenue and

expenditure of the State after takinginto account the assessed devolutionduring this period.

The States that have been recom-mended Post Devolution RevenueDeficit Grant by the FinanceCommission during 2022-23 areAndhra Pradesh, Assam, HimachalPradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya,Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab,Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura,Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Around Rs 10,549 crore of PDRDfor 2022-23 was recommended.

Revenue deficit grant: Centre releases Rs 879.08 Cr to AP Four from south get RS nominationPNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Wednesdaynominated four noted personalities,including celebrated athlete P T Ushaand music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, fromas many southern states to the RajyaSabha, in what is being seen as the rul-ing BJP's big outreach to recogniseprominent figures from south India.

Veerendra Heggade, the head of thefamous Dharmasthala temple inKarnataka and a philanthropist, andscreenwriter K V Vijayendra Prasad,

who is from Andhra Pradesh and isknown for blockbusters like "RRR",the "Baahubali" series and "BajrangiBhaijaan", were the two other choic-

es of the government for the UpperHouse of Parliament.

Veerendra Heggade K V VijayendraPrasad

P T Usha Ilaiyaraaja

YSRCP generalsecretary &Rajya Sabhamember VVijaysai Reddyinspectingarrangementsfor party plenaryat the venuenear Nagarjunavarsity.

CCMM JJAAGGAANN OONN TTWWOO-DDAAYY TTOOUURR TTOO KKAADDAAPPAAChief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to tour Kadapa district for two daysstarting from Thursday. He will be participating in various programmes at Pulivendula andVempalli on Thursday. On Friday, the Chief Minister will pay homage to his father and formerChief Minister Dr. YS Rajashekar Reddy at Idupulapaya and will head to Vijayawada forparticipating in the YSRCP plenary meeting. On Thursday, the Chief Minister will be laying thefoundation stone for Nutech Biosciences at AP Carl in Pulivendula. Later, he will inauguratethe YSR Memorial Park at Vempalli as well as the newly constructed buildings of VempalliZilla Parishad High School, and will interact with the students. On the following day, the ChiefMinister will visit YSR Ghat at Idupulapaya and pay homage to his father. Later, he will returnto Vijayawada and take part in the YSRCP plenary meeting near Nagarjuna University.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Cooking gas LPG price onWednesday was hiked by Rs 50per cylinder, the third increase inrates since May on firming inter-national energy prices.

Non-subsidised LPG now costsRs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder inthe national capital, up from Rs1,003 previously, according to aprice notification of state-ownedfuel retailers.

Common households pay non-subsidised rates for the cookinggas they buy, after the governmentrestricted subsidy to just poorbeneficiaries who got connectionsunder the Ujjwala scheme.

This is the third increase in theLPG rate since May and thefourth this year.

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EU CHIEF WARNS OF DANGER OFCOMPLETE CUT-OFF OF RUSSIAN GAS

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen saidWednesday that the 27-nation European Union needs tomake emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of

Russian gas in the wake of the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. It isobvious: (Russian President Vladimir) Putin continues to useenergy as a weapon. This is why the Commission is working ona European emergency plan, she told legislators in Strasbourg,France. The EU has already imposed sanctions on Russia,including on some energy supplies, and is steering away fromKremlin-controlled deliveries.

AROUND 30 FLIGHT INCIDENTS OCCURPER DAY IN INDIA

About 30 flight incidents happen every day in the country anda majority of them have no safety implications, Arun Kumar,chief of aviation regulator DGCA, said on Wednesday. The

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a show-causenotice Wednesday to SpiceJet after its planes had eight technicalmalfunctions over the past 18 days. In a statement onWednesday, Kumar said: "On an average, about 30 incidents dotake place, which includes go around, missed approaches,diversion, medical emergencies, weather issues, bird hits,runway incursion, runway excursion et al."

NEERAJ CHOPRA COULD BE INDIA'S FLAGBEARER IN CWG OPENING CEREMONY

Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra could beIndia's flag bearer during the opening ceremony of theupcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) may pick the 24-year-oldChopra to lead the country's contingent during the inaugurationof the 2022 CWG on July 28. "The flag bearer may be NeerajChopra. We will check his availability for opening ceremony," IOASecretary General Rajeev Mehta told PTI. The qualification roundof the men's javelin throw competition will be held on August 5while the final will be on August 7.

COPS FACE MUSIC FOR GIVING NODFOR NIGHT PARTY

Two police personnel were suspended by the Nagpur policecommissioner for giving permission for a night partywithout informing their seniors, an official said on

Wednesday. The action was taken after the police conducted araid around 11.30 pm on Sunday at a farmhouse in Khasarmarivillage on Wardha Road when the party, where liquor was beingserved to guests, was on, he said. The suspended personnelwere identified as Head Constable Sanjay Gaikwad andConstable Dhruv Pande, attached to the Hingna police station inNagpur city, the official said.

vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

EGG

RATES

VIJAYAWADA 457

HYDERABAD 454

VISAKHAPATNAM 452

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..5577

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

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Dressed/With Skin `223

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

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Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

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PNS n VIJAYAWADA

PS Surya Prakash Rao, JointDirector, Treasuries andAccounts Department,presently working as ChiefExecutive Officer, ZP Krishnadistrict, took charge as JointSecretary to Governor in RajBhavan here on Wednesday,on transfer by relieving DSanyasi Rao, DeputySecretary, from additionalcharge.

Surya Prakash Rao calledon RP Sisodia, Special ChiefSecretary to the Governor,and submitted his joiningreport. Officers and staffmembers of Raj Bhavanmembers later met the newJoint Secretary and greetedhim.

Surya Prakash Rao earli-er held positions in theChief Minister’s Office,Endowments Department,Excise Department etc.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh GovernmentWhip and Jaggaiahpet MLASamineni Udayabhanu,Vijayawada Central MLAMalladi Vishnu and MayorRayana Bhagya Lakshmi inaugu-rated the Sir Vijay Kumar Raiy(Sir Vizzy) Swimming Pool in thecity on Wednesday. The VMChas spent Rs.1.66 crore for mod-ernisation and renovation of theswimming pool.

The swimming pool is reopen-ing after two years as it was closedfor modernisation and renova-tion works. The VMC authori-ties will start the training forswimmers on Thursday.

At the inaugural function,Samineni Udayabhanu said thatswimming and walking werevery good for health. Sir VizzySwimming Pool is the oldest inthe State and several swimmerswho had been trained there wonmedals at the national champi-onships and participated in inter-national events, he said.

He further said that the Stategovernment had been givingtop priority to sports and games.“The State government is settingup walking tracks in all the vil-

lages to create health awarenessamong the people. By makinggood use of the pool, swimmersfrom the area should get moremedals at the national and inter-national events,” he added.

MLA Malladi Vishnu appre-ciated Mayor RaaynaBhagyalakshmi andCommissioner Swapnil DinakarPundkar for sanctioning Rs.1.66crore for the renovation of theswimming pool. “The swim-ming pool has trained so manynational and international swim-mers and it will continue infuture,” he said. Mayor

Bhagyalakshmi said that theVMC was developing facilities forsports and games in the city forthe convenience of the students,youth and athletes. There are somany swimmers who performedwell at the national and theinternational levels, she said.

Deputy Mayors Avuthu Srisailaja and B Durga, GrandhalayaSamstha chairperson JPurnamma, corporators BGovindu, BHSV Janareddy,VMC co option member Aleem,Executive Engineer V Srinivas,DEE Gurunadham and otherswere present.

Renovated Sir VizzySwimming Pool opened

New Joint Secretary takescharge in Raj Bhavan

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Commercial Departmentof the South Central Railwayconducted a seminar on‘Passenger Business’ withfocus on proliferating theadoption of UTS mobile appand digital transactions inticketing at the DivisionalRailway Auditorium,Vijayawada, on Wednesday.

On the occasion, G JohnPrasad, Principal ChiefCommercial Manager,stressed the need to deliverticketing services in a smoothmanner and provide satisfac-tory services to the passen-gers. He exhorted the partic-ipants to spread awarenessabout the UTS app, through

which passengers can gettheir tickets convenientlyfrom their mobile phones,

without visiting railway book-ing counters.

Prasad said that SCR Zone

stood first in passenger shareusing UTS app among all thezones in June and appealed to

the branch officers and staff toincrease the share of UTSapp in ticketing to 25 per cent.

Shivendra Mohan, DRM,Vijayawada Division, under-scored the importance ofincreasing the share of digi-tal modes of ticketing andpayments in smoothly han-dling the passenger rush atstations in unreserved seg-ments. The DRM said thatIndia held the first position indigital payments in the worldand it was time to tap thatpotential for maximum adop-tion of UTS app and increasethe share of digital transac-tions.

Mohan Raja, DivisionalRailway Manager, GunturDivision, in his address,

emphasised the need to lever-age technology and prolifer-ate easy methods of ticketingsuch as UTS app andAutomatic Ticket VendingMachines at the stations bytaking up public awarenesscampaigns.

K Sambasiva Rao, ChiefCommercial Manager,Vavilapalli; Ram Babu, SrDCM, Vijayawada; VAnjaneyulu, Sr DCM,Guntur ; G SomasekharNaidu, DCM, South; N KiranKumar, DCM, North; V RaviVarma, ACM, North; THPrasad, ACM, Guntur; NusratM Mandrupkar, PRO,Vijayawada, inspectors andstaff participated in the sem-inar.

Railways to encourage use of UTS app to book tickets

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Gopariwar Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) of AndhraPradesh and Hindu religiousorganisations launched aprotest against the killingand illegal transportation ofcows in lorries in view ofBakrid on July 10, at DharnaChowk in Vijayawada onWednesday.

Speaking on the occasion,Shaiva Kshetra PeetadhipatiShiva Swamiji said that killing

of cows hurt the sentimentsof Hindus. They are creatingfake certificates that the cowsare being moved to thecabelas, he alleged.

He further said that thecow was the mother of theuniverse and some peoplewere hurting the Hindu dhar-ma by killing cows.

The State government isnot taking any action againstthe cows' illegal transporta-tion and unauthorized killingwithout taking permission

from cabelas, he alleged.The State government

should amend all Acts relat-ing to cows and save thecows in the State, he urged.

Later, he appealed toDirector General of PoliceKV Rajendranadh Reddy andthe Vijayawada PoliceCommissioner to take neces-sary action against those whowere killing cows. He alsogave a call to stop the lorriestransporting cows to cabelason July 10.

‘Stop killing and illegaltransportation of cows’

The cow was themother of theuniverse and somepeople werehurting the Hindudharma by killingcows. The Stategovernment is nottaking any actionagainst the cows'illegaltransportation andunauthorizedkilling withouttaking permissionfrom cabelas, healleged

2nd, precaution dose gapreduced to 6 monthsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Health Ministry hasreduced the gap between the sec-ond and precaution dose ofCOVID-19 vaccine for all ben-eficiaries from nine to six monthsfollowing a recommendation byNTAGI. Corresponding changeshave been made in the CoWINsystem to facilitate the new vac-cine regimen.

In a letter to states andUnion Territories, UnionHealth Secretary RajeshBhushan on Wednesday saidthe revision was made follow-ing a recommendation of theStanding Technical Sub-Committee of the NationalTechnical Advisory Group onImmunization (NTAGI) whichwas arrived at keeping in viewthe evolving scientific evidenceand global practices. The recom-mendation has also been endorsedby NTAGI, Bhushan said.

"Therefore, it has now beendecided that the precautiondose for all beneficiaries from18-59 years will be adminis-tered after completion of sixmonths or 26 weeks from thedate of administration of thesecond dose at Private CovidVaccination Centres.

"For beneficiaries agedabove 60 years and above aswell as the healthcare andfrontline workers, precautiondose would be administeredafter completion of six monthsor 26 weeks from the date ofadministration of the seconddose at government CVCs,free of charge," Bhushan said.

COVID VACCINE

Continued from page 1

Usha is from Kerala andIlaiyaraaja, a Dalit, is fromTamil Nadu.

The decision came days afterthe Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), at its national executivemeeting in Hyderabad, identi-fied south India as the territo-ry for its next phase of growth.The saffron party has been tra-ditionally weak in southernIndia, barring Karnataka.

Prime Minister NarendraModi congratulated all four andcited their contributions intheir respective fields.

"The remarkable PT Usha Jiis an inspiration for everyIndian. Her accomplishmentsin sports are widely known butequally commendable is herwork to mentor budding ath-letes over the last several years.Congratulations to her onbeing nominated to the RajyaSabha. "The creative genius ofIlaiyaraaja Ji has enthralled

people across generations. Hisworks beautifully reflect manyemotions. What is equallyinspiring is his life journey -- herose from a humble back-ground and achieved so much.Glad that he has been nominat-ed to the Rajya Sabha," Moditweeted.

For Heggade, the primeminister said he is at the fore-front of outstanding communi-ty service. "I have had theopportunity to pray at theDharmasthala Temple and alsowitness the great work he isdoing in health, education andculture. He will certainly enrichParliamentary proceedings,"he said. Praising Prasad, Modinoted that he has been associ-ated with the creative world fordecades and his work showcas-es India's glorious culture andhas made a mark globally.

Official sources said thesenominations show yet anotherinstance of the Modi govern-ment recognising outstanding

Indians who have made a markin diverse fields.

The four nominated mem-bers have had illustrious careersin their respective fields andreceived national and globalrecognition for their contribu-tions, they said, adding thatthey will expand the southernregion's representation in theRajya Sabha.

Citing Modi's "Sabka SaathSabka Vikas" slogan, they saidthe government has consistent-ly ensured adequate represen-tation for various under-repre-sented groups. The four nom-inated members include awoman, a Dalit and a memberof a religious minority (the Jaincommunity).

"These four nominees havegiven back to the society atevery possible instance -- if oneof them has groomed athletes,the other has mentored creativegeniuses, another has nurturedcinematic talent and one hasdone community service.

Continued from page 1

The plenary will changethe party's constitution tothis effect. That is, therewould be no more election toYSR Congress president postin the future. In TamilNadu, Jayalalitha becamethe permanent general sec-retary of AIDMK in a simi-lar manner.

After YS Sharmilalaunched YSR TelanganaParty, there were specula-tions that YS Vijayammawas gradually distancing her-self from his son and APChief Minister YS Jagan.YSR Congress leaders are ofthe view that onceVijayamma is made the per-manent honarory presidentof YSR Congress, such spec-ulations would come to anend.

YS Vijayamma has goneon record that her son YSJagan and daughter YSSharmila are like two eyes toher. Besides, Jagan hasreportedly decided to discussthe trend of 'yellow media'and 'dusta chatustayam" (thequartet of evil). Formerministers Kodali Nani,Minister Jogi Ramesh andothers will speak on thissubject.

Continued from page 1

But, four of them failedto return due to the boatengine failing in the sea.The only mobile possessedby the fishermen also gotswitched off. The rescueteams could not contactt hem on t he mobi lephone.

The disaster manage-ment teams believe thatthe boat may be locatednear Antarvedi as theylast received communica-tion from that area. TheCoast Guard is mainlysearching for the boatbetween Kakinada andVisakhapatnam.

M e a n w h i l e ,Machilipatnam MLA andformer minister PerniNani visited the residencesof t he f i sher men inMachilipatnam and spoketo their families.

Continued from page 1

The MLAs would make vis-its to the households in theirjurisdiction as per the sched-ule finalised by the respectivedistrict collectors within thelimits of grama/wardsachivalayam.

The MLAs will visit all thehouseholds in all villages/wardsalong with public representa-tives and officers atmandal/municipality and vil-lage/ ward levels. The pro-gramme will be continued tillall the households in theirjurisdiction get exhaustivelycovered.

The MLAs, during theirvillage visits, will carry thebooklets listing the last threeyears’ achievements coveringall important schemes. The dis-trict collectors in the State willcoordinate with the GadapaGadapaku Mana Prabhutvamat district-level until its comple-tion.

Continued from page 1

The price was hiked by Rs50 per cylinder on March 22and again by the same quan-tum on May 7. Rates went upby Rs 3.50 per cylinder onMay 19.

Prices have gone up by Rs244 per cylinder since June2021. Of this, Rs 153.50increase happened sinceMarch 2022.

Petrol and diesel prices,however, continue to be onfreeze for the third straightmonth. The pause followedrates being hiked by a recordRs 10 per litre in a matter of16 days beginning March22.

In May, the governmentcut excise duty on petrol byRs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs6 per litre to cool soaringinflation.

At that time, the govern-ment also stated that Rs 200per cylinder subsidy oncooking gas will be limited toonly 9 crore poor women andother beneficiaries who gotfree connections under theUjjwala scheme and theremaining users includinghouseholds will pay the mar-ket price (also known asnon-subsidised rate).

Jagan set totighten gripover party

4 from south get RS nomination 4 fishermenstill untraced

LPG price hiked by Rs 50;rates up by Rs 244

Data on DBT...

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Traffic restrictions will beimposed on the national high-way-16 at Pedakakani,Mangalagiri mandal, Gunturdistrict from 10 am to 10 pmon July 9 in connection withthe YSRCP State plenary meet-ing.

All heavy vehicles will bediverted to avoid entering thenational highway.

Heavy vehicles coming fromChennai side toVisakhapatnam via Vijayawadaand Ibrahimpatnam,Nandigama will be diverted atThrovagunta in Ongole district

via Chirala-Bapatla-Repalle-Av a n i g a d d a - P a m a r r u -Gudivada-Hanuman junctionare diverted towardsVisakhapatnam andIbrahimpatnam.

Vehicles going from Gunturto Visakhapatnam will bediverted via Budampadu XMidhuga Tenali, Vemuru,Kollur, Vellathur Junction,Penumudi Bridge MidhugaAvanigadda, Palmeru –Gudivada – Hanuman.

Heavy vehicles going

towards Chennai fromVisakhapatnam will be divert-ed from Hanuman Junctionvia Gudivada – Palmeru –Avanigadda – Raypalle –Bapatla – Cherala –Trovagunta – Ongole.

Heavy vehicles goingtowards Hyderabad fromVisakhapatnam will be divert-ed from Hanuman Junctiontowards Nujiveedu-Mylavaram-G Kondur,Ibrahimpatnam.

Heavy vehicles going to

Visakhapatnam fromHyderabad will be divertedfrom Ibrahimpatnam, GKondur – Mylavaram –Nujiveedu – HanumanJunction.

Multi-axle goods vehiclesgoing towards Visakhapatnamfrom Chennai side will bestopped at Chilakaluripet,Ongole and Nellore nearNational Highway without anydiversion.

Those vehicles will beallowed after 10 pm.

Multi-axle goods vehiclesgoing from Visakhapatnamtowards Chennai will bestopped at Hanuman Junctionand will be allowed after 10pm. Parking of vehicles com-ing to the plenary.

The parking for buses com-ing to the plenary fromVijayawada is at RK VenuziaLayout. Cars, autos and two-wheelers coming fromVijayawada should be parkedat Acharya NagarjunaUniversity.

For buses coming fromGuntur, the parking facilityis at Nambur and KanteruRoad.

Traffic curbs on July 9

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union ministers MukhtarAbbas Naqvi and R C P Singhsubmitted their resignationsto Prime Minister Narendra

Modi on Wednesday, a daybefore the completion of theirRajya Sabha term, sourcessaid.

During a cabinet meetingearlier in the day, Modi laud-

ed both Naqvi and Singh fortheir contributions to thecountry during their ministe-rial tenure, sources said.

Former bureaucrat andonce a confidant of Bihar

Chief Minister and JD(U)supremo Nitish Kumar, Singhresigned on his birthday, oneyear after joining the UnionCabinet from his party'squota.

Naqvi, RCP Singh resign from Union Cabinet

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A total of 45,808 candidatesappeared for the Class 10advance supplementary andbetterment examinations thatbegan across the State onWednesday, according to DDevananda Reddy, Director,

Government Examinations.Of the total 57,056 candi-dates, 45,808 candidates werepresent while 11,248 wereabsent, registering a presentpercentage of 80.29. The examwas held in 986 examinationcentres across the State from9.30 am to 12.45 pm.

Supplementary & betterment exams begin

NON-SUBSIDISEDLPG NOW COSTS

RS 1,053in Delhi

RS 1,052.50in Mumbai

RS 1105in Hyderabad

RS 1151in Patna

RS 1,079 in Chennai

RS 1,068.50in Kolkata

IN VIJAYAWADARS 1,075

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

ISKCON Vijayawada is organ-ising a mega Rath Yatra festi-val at Vajra grounds near A1Convention Center from 1 pmon July 8. This will be the firstRath Yatra after the opening ofa new Jagannath mandir by thesociety in Krishna Lanka nearthe Skew Bridge last year, saidISKCON Vijayawada presidentChakradari Das.

Addressing media personson Wednesday, he said thatGovernor BiswabhusanHarichandan would grace theoccasion as chief guest. TheGovernor and Cabinet minis-ters will be attending the inau-gural ceremony, which isscheduled to begin at 1 pm.Later, the Ratha Yatra proces-sion will start, which will beattended by thousands of devo-

tees. He said a special team ofdevotees from seven differentcountries would perform amusical show, which would bethe special attraction for thewhole event. Artists from dif-ferent States would join. TheRath Yatra, after beginningfrom Brindavan Colony, willpass through MG Road, JammiChettu Centre, SiddharthaCollege, Poly Clinic road,Gayathri Nagar, RameshHospitals, Guru NanakColony, Fun Times Club Roadand NTR Circle, and con-clude at ISKCON VijayawadaJagannath Mandir. A distanceof eight km will be covered.

He further said that fromJuly 8 to 10, there would beRath Yatra Mela in line with SriJagannath Puri. Many cultur-al programmes and competi-tions would be organised on

the ISKCON premises. Thehighlight of the festival wouldbe the replica of GundichaMandir of Jagannath Puri,made by reputed artists fromWest Bengal. Jagannath Melawill be open for the residentsof Vijayawada from 5 pm to 10pm everyday from July 8 to 10.Prasadam arrangements formore than 10,000 people willbe made during three days.The entire event, Rath Yatraprocession, festival and com-petitions will be telecast live onthe YouTube channel ofISKCON.

The whole event will be ledby a team of Brahmacharis, allIITians, to give an experienceof Puri Ratha Yatra to the res-idents of Vijayawada, saidISKCON Vijayawada. ManagerVenudari Das and others werealso present.

Rath Yatra from July 8 to 10

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Communist Party of India(CPI) national secretary Dr KNarayana has said that ChiefJustice of India (CJI) NVRamana should respond to anopen letter from a group ofretired judges, bureaucrats andformer officers of the armedforces to the Supreme Court.“The letter read that theSupreme Court judges’ remarksagainst expelled BJP leaderNupur Sharma crossed the‘Laxman Rekha’,” Narayanasaid.

The CPI leader participatedin the two-day Andhra PradeshState CPI council meeting heldat the Dasari Bhavan inVijayawada on Wednesday.

While addressing reporters,Narayana said that though CJI

NV Ramana was not in thecountry when the SupremeCourt judges made the com-ments, he should haveresponded on the issue. “Peopledo not appreciate silence on thesensational comments of the

judges,” he said. He further saidthat the Chief Justice was partof the judicial system, and theissues raised by the intellectu-als pertained to the entire sys-tem. Today, there might bemore open letters, and tomor-

row, the people would agitateagainst it, he added. DrNarayana said that the BJP-ledNDA government, too, wassilent on the open letter. In fact,the BJP was turning the tide inits favour. The Modi govern-ment wanted to take advantageof the communal tensions forits vested interests, he alleged.

On NV Ramana's observa-tion that mediation was neces-sary in addressing the dis-putes, he said that it mightwork in ideal conditions andsocieties, but not in India aslong as criminal politics andgoondaism prevailed and thepoor had no access to justicethrough mediation.

“Meanwhile, there is agrowing demand for doingaway with the collegium sys-tem in the wake of the

Supreme Court judges’ obser-vations. The National JudicialAppointments Commision(NJAC) in place of collegiumis not desirable. It’s better tonot involve the Central gov-ernment,” he said. Narayanasaid that the YSRCP and ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy failed in achievingSpecial category status (SCS)to Andhra Pradesh. CM Jaganwashed off his hands by mere-ly submitting a memoran-dum. Instead, he should havemounted pressure on theCentre saying his party wouldsupport Presidential candi-date Droupadi Murmu only ifSCS was accorded to AndhraPradesh, he added.

Later, he alleged that PMModi ravaged the Federalspirit of the country by arrest-

ing several civil rights leadersaccusing them of treason. Inthis situation, Left-oriented,progressive and democraticparties should unite and fightagainst the government, hesaid.

"Modi spends Rs.70 lakhper month on his clothes andI am ready to face any case ordebate on my words in thisregard. I welcome PragnaBharati Foundation’s DrHanuman Chowdary, whohas an RSS background, to filecriminal proceedings,"Narayana said. He furthersaid that the CPI nationalconference would be held inVijayawada from October 27and before that, the partynational council would beheld in New Delhi from July13 to 17.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP politburo memberYanamala Ramakrishnudu hasalleged that Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy hasignored employees’ welfareand distributed the lootedpublic money to the village vol-unteers, who are his own partyworkers. “Employees are thebridge between the govern-ment and the public and theirefforts are needed for properadministration by the govern-ment, but CM Jagan is treatingthe employees as his slaves,” hesaid.

Yanamala pointed out thatthe employees were not gettingsalaries on time. In the pastthree years’ rule by the YSRCPgovernment, the State gov-ernment employees rarely gottheir salaries on the first day ofthe month. CM Jagan wasdoing gross injustice to the

employees, while promotingthe village volunteers, whowere his own party workers.The volunteers had been loot-ing the public by taking bribesfor any welfare scheme, he said.

The TDP leader further saidthat there were 2.66 lakh vil-lage/ward volunteers in theState, who needed Rs 5.5 croreevery month for purchasingnewspapers. “The CM is giv-ing money to the volunteersfrom the government exche-quer and they buy CM’s Sakshinews paper. People under-stand clearly all the acts and

deeds of the Chief Minister areto loot the government exche-quer for himself and his hench-men,” he alleged.

The Chief Minister had can-celled many schemes intro-duced by the previous TDPgovernment. On the otherhand, YSRCP leaders andworkers were looting all natur-al resources in the State, grab-bing government lands andamassing wealth.The Jagangovernment was imposingheavy taxes on the public, anddiverting those funds to hisown media.

CJI should respond to open letter: Dr K Narayana

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

To mark World Zoonoses Day,VMC Commissioner SwapnilDinkar Pundkar and otherstook part in a free rabies vac-cination programme atBhavanipuram JeevakarunyaAshram on Wednesday. Theprogramme was jointly organ-ised by VMC and JeevakarunyaAshram in the 43rd division.

On the occasion, theCommissioner said that thefree rabies vaccination pro-gramme had been conductedfor pets and stray dogs in thecity. He said that dog ownersshould take advantage of theopportunity and ensure thattheir dogs got rabies vaccina-

tion. “It is very important toproperly vaccinate pets andstray dogs either at the veteri-nary hospital or privately toprevent rabies infection.Animal lovers are advised toget their pets vaccinatedresponsibly,” he said.

The Commissioner furthersaid that as per the MunicipalCorporation Act, it is neces-sary for everyone in the city toregister the details of pet dogsand stray dogs in their areas atthe municipal office or nearbysecretariats. Through thesedetails, they will know howmany dogs are there in the city,how many have been vaccinat-ed and other details. TheCommissioner appreciated the

management of JeevakarunyaAshram for the medical ser-vices they were providing tothe stray dogs in the city andthe arrangements done fortheir care.

VMC Assistant Surgeon DrRavi Chand stated that about450 dogs had been vaccinatedat Jeevakarunya Ashram andKothapeta Nehru BommaCentre through this vaccina-tion drive and vaccinationwould be done on Thursday aswell.

Local corporator B KotiReddy, Chief Medical OfficerDr Ch Babu Srinivasan, HealthOfficer Dr Iqbal, JeevakarunyaAshram members and otherswere present.

Pet owners asked to register detailsFree rabies vaccination programme conducted for pets and stray dogs in city

“Employees are the bridgebetween the government and thepublic and their efforts areneeded for proper administrationby the government, but CM Jaganis treating the employees as hisslaves,” he said

Jagan ignoring govt employees: Yanamala

Applications invitedfor yoga trainersPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Sports Authority ofAndhra Pradesh (SAAP) willrecruit yoga coaches for all theAssembly constituenciesunder the ‘Pay and Play’scheme. SAAP Vice-Chairmanand Managing Director Dr NPrabhakar Reddy said in apress release on Wednesdaythat interested persons whohave experience in yoga train-ing may apply for the post.

He said that SAAP wouldprovide a site for setting up aYoga Training Centre.Interested yoga coaches, bothmen and women, may contactthe State Yoga Coordinator GVenkateswara Rao, he said. He

said that the eligible candidatescan contact G VenkateswaraRao (mobile number:7842829449). Interested can-didates may send their appli-cations to the mail id,gvr9449@gmail.com, headded.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Swimmers from Krishnadistrict will participate inthe 48th Junior NationalAquatic Championship -2022, which will be held atBiju Patnaik SwimmingPool-cum-Sports Complexof Kalinga Stadium inBhubaneswar from July 16to 20. As many as 15 nation-al-level swimmers will bepart of the Andhra Pradeshteam, said Krishna DistrictSwimming Association sec-retary Ramesh.Participants: Group - IBoys: N.Deva Ganesh, KJohnson, KK George, TSatwik, M Sarath, Group -I Girls: M Durga Devi,Sudhishna, K Sanvi, UPremamrutha, ChMounika, Group - II Boys:M Theerthu Samadev, MYagna Sai, Group - II Girls:B Alamkruthi, N PavaniSarayu, Ch Bhanu Sri

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The price of domestic cookingcylinders has been hiked onceagain. As per State-owned oilmarketing companies,Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylin-ders used in domestic house-holds will go through a pricehike of Rs 50 starting fromWednesday. After the latesthike, the 14.2 kg domesticLPG cylinders cost is Rs 1,075in Vijayawada, up by Rs 50.

It may be noted that whenthe BJP-led Modi governmenttook the reins at the Centre, theLGP domestic cylinders costonly Rs 400. Instead of bring-ing the price under control, theBJP government totallyremoved the subsidy on LPG.

Left parties opposed the hikeand said that ever since the BJPgovernment came to power,prices of essential commoditieshad gone up drastically. TheModi government, which cameto power saying that within 100days they would reduce theprices of all essential com-modities, has increased theprices to an all-time high. Onthe other hand, the Centralgovernment has levied a bur-

den of Rs 25 lakh crore on thepeople of the country throughincrease of fuel prices, said theLeft party leaders. CPM Stateexecutive body member Ch

Babu Rao said that the Modigovernment was favoring thecorporate companies by impos-ing an unbearable burden onthe common people. He alleged

that the BJP government wasplanning to privatise all thepetroleum companies andhand them over to corporatecompanies. The ruling YSRCPin the State should question theBJP at the Centre on the abnor-mal price hike. On July 11, theCPM will protest at all the col-lectorates across the Stateagainst the price hike of essen-tial commodities, LPG andothers.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for Industries,Commerce, Infrastructure, andInvestments GudivadaAmarnath has said that thegovernment has created afavorable environment forcompanies to invest, andslammed the Opposition fortrying to spoil the brand imageof the State with its maliciouspropaganda.

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Wednesday, theminister said that AndhraPradesh had topped theBusiness Reform Action Plan2020 Rankings in the Ease ofDoing Business, where theCentre has given the rankingsafter carefully examining allaspects and taking feedbackfrom the industrialists. He saidthat TDP leaders couldn’t digestthe good news and thus resort-ed to cheap politics by falsely

accusing the government. Theprevious government had onlyshown fake MoUs and graph-ics to bluff people and betrayedthe youth in the name of cre-ating four lakh jobs. He recalledthat four Partnership Summitswere conducted during NChandrababu Naidu’s rule withzero output and high promo-

tions. People had givenOpposition status to the TDPafter going through all suchbetrayals. “Many companiesare looking at Andhra Pradeshand are coming forward toinvest, as the government isproviding all facilities andextending full support to them,”he said.

Govt ensures favourableenvironment for industries

LPG DOMESTIC CYLINDER PRICE UP BY RS 50

CPM to protest risein prices on July 11

Left parties opposed the hike and said

that ever since the BJP government came

to power, prices of essential commodities

had gone up drastically

Krishna swimmers totake part in nationalchampionship

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of the East CoastRailway (ECoR) WaltairDivision’s endeavor to providea comfortable journey to pas-sengers, DRM Anup Satpathyinaugurated a Paid AC relax-ing lounge at Visakhapatnamrailway station on platformNo.1, near Gate no 03 onWednesday. The new lounge isexpected to prove to be a newbenchmark for providing lux-ury and comfort to rail passen-gers at affordable rates. The

AC Waiting Hall boasts ofhigh luxurious cushionedthree-seater sofa and chairs,aesthetic roof ceiling, vitrifiedtiled floor, glossy glass finish,washroom with premier fit-tings, aesthetic lighting, lug-gage rack, fully air condi-tioned, separate bathroom forwomen and men, CCTV sur-veillance, PAS system andsmart TV. The facility is avail-able for bonafide passengers ata meager charge of Rs 30 perone hour and Rs.20 for thenext hour.

Paid AC relaxing loungeopened at Vizag rly station

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The APSRTC has decided tohire 659 buses across theState. To this effect, RTCExecutive Director,Operations, KSBrahmananda Reddy onWednesday invited tendersfrom interested entrepreneursfor supply of 659 buses underthe hire scheme throughMSTC e-commercial portal.He said that bids are invitedfrom interested entrepreneursfor 9 AC Sleeper, 47 Non ACSleeper, 6 Indra A/c, 46 SuperLuxury, 22 Ultra Deluxe, 70Express, 208 UltraPallevelugu, 203 Pallevelugu,39 Metro Express and 9 CityOrdinary buses.

He also released the dis-trict-wise details of 659 busesto various districts across theState -- Srikakulam-39,Parvathipuram Manyam-32,V i z i a n a g a r a m - 1 4 ,

Vi s a k h a p a t r n a m - 6 1 ,Anakapalli-22, Kakinada-41,East Godavari-27, Dr. BRAmbedkar Konaseema-39,West Godavari-52, Eluru-21,Krishna-28, NTR-12, Guntur-26, Palnadu-30, Bapatla-6,Prakasham-10, SPS Nellore-39, Tirupati-35, Chittoor-2,Annamayya-10, YSR-6,Nandyal- 29, Kurnool-14,Ananthapuramu-31 and SriSatya Sai-33.

He said that participantshave to register in MSTC e-commerce portal to partici-pate in the tenders. The bidscan be placed from July 6, 10am till July 27, 5 pm. Thereverse auction will com-mence from August 5, 10 amtill August 6, 4 pm. Thedetails of routes, tender con-ditions, specifications of busesand tender schedule are avail-able on the APSRTC websitehttp://apsrtc.ap.gov.in, saidBrahmananda Reddy.

APSRTC invitestenders for hiring buses

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra PradeshElectricity RegulatoryCommission (APERC) hasappointed K Raja Bapaiah,who is presently working asDirector (Engineering) ofAPERC, as Secretary (FAC).He assumed charge onWednesday. He has beenassisting the AP ElectricityRegulatory Commission inTariff and Engineering-relat-ed matters in the cadre ofDirector Engineering ofAPERC. Previously, heworked as Chief Engineer ofVijayawada Zone. He hasalso worked as Director ofProjects in APEPDCL andChairman and ManagingDirector of APEPDCL inFull additional charge.

Bapaiah isAPERCSecretary

04VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

PNS n KADAPA

The police arrested 10 notori-ous interstate thieves andrecovered gold jewellery, silverornaments worth Rs 20 lakhand Rs 45,000 cash from them.

Informing this media hereon Wednesday, Superintendentof police KKN Anburajan saidthat two gangs, of AP andKarnataka states, comprising10 thieves were arrested.

The 10 thieves of the twogangs were involved in sever-al thefts, burglaries, chainsnatches and robberies in var-ious districts. The SP said that

a six member gang of APincluding its kingpin Mallika

Shyamala was arrested. TheMallika Shyam gang commit-

ted crimes in Kamalapuramand Proddatur limits. Thepolice arrested the six membergang Kondreddipalli bus stopon Pulivendula-Veerapunayanialli highway.

The police gave the names ofarrested thieves as MallikaShyamal alias Mallika Shyam,Mallika Venkatesh, MallikaEruvaram Raju, Mallika Anji,Malika Indra and RagiNagaraju The police arrestedanother gang belonging toRaichur in Karnataka state atGanganamma temple inPulivendula. The modusoperandi of the gangs was

that they would identify lockedhouses and later they wouldbreak open the doors anddecamp with the booty.

The police recovered goldjewellery and silver ornamentsworth Rs 20 lakh, Rs 45,000cash and two motorcycles.The SP appreciated thePulivendula rural CI BalaMaddileti, Kadapa 1 town CINagaraju, Pulivendula UrbanCI Raju, Vemula SIDhanunjayudu andPulivendula SI GopinathReddy for arresting the gangand announced reward tothem.

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam district Collector AS Dinesh Kumar assured thatthe evacuees of Veligonda pro-ject would be done justice andthe government would dis-burse due compensation tothem.

A programme was held atLakshmipuram village to dis-tribute house sites to villagersof Krishnanagar in which theCollector and MLA AnnaCenkata Rambabu participat-ed. 114 house sites, spread in 20acres of land at Ondutla village,were distributed to the vil-lagers.

Speaking on the occasion,the Collector said that the vil-lagers had parted with theirhouse sites for the constructionof Veligonda project whichwould provide irrigation waterto 4.47 lakh acres and drinkingwater to 11 lakh people. Theconstruction of the project had

become an easy task since thevillagers had given their lands,he complimented.

The government is also giv-ing top priority for the comple-tion of the Veligonda project at

the earliest. The Collectorasked the villagers not to trustthe mediators in the issue ofrehabilitation package and thegovernment is committed to dojustice to all those who parted

with their lands for the project.He asked them to get theirdoubts allayed by speakingwith the officials concerned.

Collector Dinesh Kumartold them that he would per-

sonally monitor the provisionof facilities in the rehabilitationcolonies. All eligible peoplewould be rehabilitated. “I willtake the issue of assigned landsto the notice of the govern-ment. I will take a decision onthe assigned lands after dis-cussing with the officials con-cerned”, he made it clear.

The Collector said thatregarding the lands ofVelagalapaya and Papineni Pallivillages he would take a deci-sion on the lift irrigation issueafter discussing with the offi-cials.

MLA Venkata Rambabuthanked the farmers for givingtheir lands for distributing housesites. The flagship project ofPrakasam district Veligondaproject is possible since thefarmers had given their lands, heappreciated. The farmers of thedistrict would get the fruits ofthe Veligonda project soon, hesaid. The MLA appealed to the

Collector to take steps to providewater to Velagala Paya andPapineni Palli villages by lift irri-gation scheme.

Joint Collector AbhishiktKishore said that a school andAnganwadi centre were beingconstructed in the rehabilitationcolony and all facilities would beprovided soon. The govern-ment had allocated Rs 7 crore forthe same, he added.

He asked those who were allo-cated house sites to take up con-struction of houses at the earli-est. He announced that housepattas would be handed over tothe evacuees of Vemulakota vil-lage by one month. An evacueePanduranga Reddy expressedhappiness at the support beingextended by the governmentand providing all facilities tothose who had given lands forthe project. RDO LakshmiShiva Jyothi, Special CollectorRama Subbayya, ZPTC andMPTCs were present.

10 inter-state thieves arrested, Rs 20 lakh booty recovered

Collector says govt will do justice to Veligonda project evacuees

PNS n GUNTUR

Guntur district Collector MVenugopal Reddy assured toprovide all the required basicamenities to the YSRJagananna colonies and askedthe beneficiaries to completethe construction of houses atthe earliest.

The Collector inspected thehouses in the Jagananna colonyat Atmakur village in Tadepallimunicipal corporation limits onWednesday. He spoke with thedwellers and knew their griev-ances. He also inspected theRBK, ZP high school andAnganwadi centre.

The colony dwellers broughtto the attention of the Collectorthat 95 percent of the houseshad been constructed in the lay-out and electricity and potablewater should be supplied prop-erly. The roads and seweragecanals should also be con-structed in the colony, thedwellers told the Collector.Responding to this, the

Collector directed the munici-pal officials to prepare propos-als for the construction of roadsand sewerage canals and takesteps to supply ration rice anddistribution of pension throughMDU units with the formationof volunteers in the colony.The colony dwellers urged theCollector to take steps to grantloans to those whose houseconstruction is pending. Theyalso requested the Collector toset up special police patrollingas brats and drunkards roam on

the way from the main road tothe colony.

The officials of the electrici-ty department were instructedto complete the electricityworks in the colony and takesteps to provide power supplywithout interruptions. The offi-cials were also directed to con-duct regular tests on the drink-ing water should be supplied bythe city administration andcreate awareness among thepeople to drink boiled waterduring the rainy season.

Collector Venugopal Reddyinspected the kitchen and theprepared food items at theAtmakuru Anganwadi centreand spoke to the pregnantwomen and children andinquired about the quality of thefood items being served tothem. He said that meals shouldbe provided as per the dailymenu as prescribed by the gov-ernment and the quality ofcomplete nutrition kits pro-vided to pregnant womenshould not be compromised.

The Collector also inspectedthe additional classrooms beingconstructed through Phase 2 inprimary and high schools, toi-lets and classrooms construct-ed in the first phase. Teachersshould ensure that the toilets arecleaned at least thrice every dayat the specified time to keepthem clean, the Collector said,adding that lakhs of rupees werebeing spent on school develop-ment works and they should beused to educate students prop-erly.

The engineering officersshould constantly monitor theconstruction of additional class-rooms and ensure that they arecompleted with quality andwithin the stipulated time. TheCollector inspected the seedsare kept ready for the distribu-tion to the farmers at the RBK.Housing PD Sainath Kumar,Special officer Rajababu,Tahasildar Ram Prasad, MPDORam Prasanna and agricultureAR Sailaja were among whoaccompanied the Collector.

Collector assures basic facilities in Jagananna colonies

PNS n ONGOLE

The police seized bannedtobacco products while beingtransported at two places andarrested 2 persons.

Police here on Wednesdaysaid that on the directions of SPMalika Garg, under the super-vision of SEB JD NSuryachandra Rao, Ongole SEBtask force officials conductedchecking of vehicles. The found27,375 banned gutka sachetswere being transported illegal-ly and seized them. The policearrested M Venkata Naga Shiva

Charan in this connection. When he was questioned he

provided information thatgutka sachets were hoarded ina house at Brundavan colony.The police conducted a raid

and seized 2,39,556 gutka pack-ets and arrested GSrimannarayana in this con-nection. The police seizedgutka sachets worth Rs3,43,224 in the two raids.

Banned tobacco products seized

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

P.B. Siddhartha College of Artsand Science inked MoU withEduskills foundation to set upIndustry centre of Excellence forproviding certificate courses,internships and career opportu-nities in globally renowned ITcorporates viz. AWS Academy,Palo Alto cybersecurityAcademy, Celonis, Red Hatacademy, Altryx data analytics,Juniper networks, Blue PrismUniversity, Microchip Academy,said Principal of the college Dr.M. Ramesh.

In a program held on collegepremises here on Wednesday,co-founder and CEO ofEduskills foundation Mr.Subhajit Jagadev exchangedMoU documents with collegeprincipal Dr. M. Ramesh.Subhajit created awareness onusing Eduskills platform to allthe students of college. He

advised students to utilise theopportunity of up-skillingthemselves by engaging withthese corporate training pro-grams and certification assess-ments. He also added that pur-suing internships provided bythese leading corporates leads tofull-time career opportunitieswith high salary packages. Deanof the college Prof. RajeshJampala lauded the contributionof College alumni associationfor subscribing to Eduskillsplatform for 5 years. College

placement head Sridhar Kavurianticipated that the subscriptionof Eduskills will serve as cata-lyst to enhance the number ofplacement offers and salarypackages in the forthcomingyears. The MoU signing cere-mony was attended by collegedirector V. Baburao, AlumniAssociation office bearers N.Venkateswara Rao, A. PrasanthChowdary, D. Murali, B.Amarender, J. Lakshmipathiand other members along withstudents.

PNS n NELLORE

District Collector KVNChakradhar Babu directed theofficials to expedite the landacquisition process for the con-struction of Ramaya patnamsea port. He held a meeting withthe officials concerned here onWednesday. Speaking on theoccasion he said that the reha-bilitation process of evacueesshould be completed by July 20.On this occasion, GudlurTahsildar Lavanya told theCollector that a total of 850 acresof land had to be acquired for theconstruction of Ramayapatnamport of which 180 acres of landhad already been acquired andcompensation was paid to thefarmers. The acquired land was

handed over to the port author-ities, she said. She apprised himthat out of the 150 governmentland and 65 acres of assignedland were also handed over tothe port authorities. Draft noti-fication was issued for the acqui-

sition of 100 acres dotted land.70 acres of land was in title dis-pute, she added. The districtCollector said that there shouldbe no delay in the land acquisi-tion process and made it clearthat the work should be speed-

ed up immediately and theentire land acquisition processshould be completed by July 20th. A committee meeting shouldbe arranged to confirm theR&R package, he said. TheCollector directed the officials toprepare the necessary layoutfor the resettlement of the vil-lagers of Ravulapalem,Mondivaripalem andKarlapalem who are losing theirlands. In this regard, the landacquisition report should besubmitted every week, he said.

DRO Venkata Narayanamma, Kandukur RDO GVSubba Reddy, Collectorate,Tehsildars Venkata Sunil,Vijayakumar and other revenueofficials participated in thismeeting.

P.B. Siddhartha College inksMoU with Eduskills Foundation They also

requested theCollector to set upspecial policepatrolling as bratsand drunkardsroam on the wayfrom the main roadto the colony

Shyam Prasad Mukharjee birth anniversary heldPNS n GUNTUR

The 121 st birth anniversary ofDr.Shyam Prasad Mukharjeewas organised by BJP leaders inthe district office hereWednesday. BJP national exec-utive committee member KannaLakshminarayana paid tributesto Shyam Prasad Mukherjee bygarlanding the portrait. Later he

planted saplings in the premis-es. Speaking on the occasion,Kanna Lakshminarayana saidShyam Prasad Mukhjreeopposed the Article 370 and hedied under suspicious circum-stances in Kashmir. He hadstriven for one national flag toIndia. He had also striven forthe integrity and unity of thecountry.

Officials directed to expedite landacquisition process for port construction

PNS n BHIMAVARAM

Though the 30 feet bronzestatue of Alluri Sitarama Rajuwas unveiled in grand pro-gramme by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on June 4,now the statue is in dark asthe officials did not providelighting at the statue.

Many people who wentthere this evening to see thegiant statue of legendary free-dom fighter were disappoint-

ed as it plunged in the darkand is beyond visible. TheKshatriya Seva Samiti spentcrores of rupees to install thestatue and organise the pro-gramme but they did notevince that much interest toarrange lighting at the statue.Those who went there todayto have a look at the giant stat-ue appealed to the officials toarrange lighting at the statueso that they would see thestatue in the evening also.

Sitarama Raju statue is in the dark

AFTER UNVEILING BY PM

Minor girl allegedly gang-rapedPNS n ONGOLE

A minor girl was allegedly gangraped by three persons atPattabhipuram in Nallapadupolice station limits and thepolice here registered Zero FIRunder POCSOA Act by theTripurantakam police.

The relatives of the victim toldthe media that she passed 10 thclass and is making efforts to

study Intermediate. The victim,a resident of Nadigadda village inTripurantakam mandal wasorphaned as her parents died 0years ago and she is under the

care of her relatives. The accusedAvulamanda Venkatesh, BadvetiMahesh and Avulamanda KashiRao promised the victim toadmit her at a college and tookher in the car about 10 days ago.They lodged her in a relative’shouse and later gang raped thegirl. They video graphed theheinous crime and threatened toexpose it if she revealed it to any-body by uploading it on social

media. Later the accused freedthe girl at Tripurantakam busstand. She informed the matterto her relatives who lodged acomplaint with the police whoregistered a Zero FIR but thepolice have not arrested theaccused so far even after 10days, they told the media. Theyappealed to the police officials totake firm action against theaccused.

PNS n ELURU

The YSRCP leaders havealleged that the OppositionTelugu Desam party leadersare misleading people againstthe YSRCP regime by makingfalse statements.

The YSRCP organised itsdistrict plenary here onWednesday. Addressing thecadres MLA Alla KalikrishnaSrinivas alleged that unable todigest the growing popularityof Chief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy, the TDP lead-ers were making maliciousstatements against the govern-ment.

He said that the govern-ment is providing welfareschemes benefits to all the eli-gible irrespective of caste andreligion. “It is shameful to notethat the person who worked asChief Minister for 14 years hasnot constructed a house inAndhra Pradesh. When thepeople pointed it out, he start-ed constructing a house in hisown constituency Kuppam. Letus leave the construction of ahouse in Kuppam to his discre-tion”, the former deputy Chief

Minister said. KalikrishnaSrinivas said that when the stategovernment was making effortsto start major projects,Chandrababu Naidu was creat-ing obstacles to them by usinghis influence at the Centre, heflayed. The Jagan Mohan Reddyheaded government has allocat-ed house sites for all the house-less poor, he claimed.

“Unable to digest the hugepopularity of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, theTDP is creating hindrances tothe development and projects.The TDP leaders created hur-dles to the Gadapa Gadapakuprogramme at various places”,he lashed out. Taking a dig atfilm star turned politician andJanasena chief K Pawan Kalyan,the YSRCP leader said thatPawan Kalyan could not stopthe YSRCP with his politicalstrategy as the people are withthe YSRCP. He predicted thatthe YSRCP would come topower once again. MLA MekaPratap Appa Rao predictedthat Jagan Mohan Reddy wouldbe the Chief Minister of thestate for three consecutiveterms.

TDP misleading people onYSRCP regime: YSRCP leaders

PNS n GUNTUR

Three persons were injuredone of the critically when a carploughed through the crowdat Telephone exchange inTenali on Wednesday.

Police said that a minor boywas driving the car when the

mishap took place. The carploughed through the tricyclerickshaw repair shop. The legof one of the victims wasbadly crushed in the acci-dent. The police rushed there,shifted the victims to the gov-ernment hospital and regis-tered a case.

Three injured as carploughs through crowd

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

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The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases hasarrested two other accused who were allegedly part of a mob that had set a houseablaze during the violence, which had left 127 people dead here. The SIT has so far

arrested 13 people in connection with the violence that took place following theassassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in Delhi.The fresh arrests were made on Wednesdayin a separate case lodged with the Naubastapolice. The SIT was formed by the UttarPradesh government three years ago to re-investigate the cases related to the riots.The arrested accused -- Sidh Gopal Guptaalias Babbu (66) and Jitendra Kumar Tiwarialias Raja Babu (58) -- are residents ofKidwai Nagar. They were produced before acourt, which remanded them in judicialcustody for 14 days, said Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police (DIG) Balendu BhushanSingh, who is heading the SIT.

1984 anti-Sikh riots SIT arrests 2 more accused in Kanpur

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday attacked the government overthe issue of price after LPG rate was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, accusing the BJPdispensation of managing headlines but mismanaging economy. His attack came on a

day the cooking gas price witnessed a third increase in rates since May on firminginternational energy prices. Non-subsidised LPG now costs Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinderin the national capital, up from Rs1,003 previously, according to a pricenotification of state-owned fuelretailers. "Headlines Managed.Economy Mismanaged," Gandhitweeted, with a photo with text tosuggest the BJP's stance on inflationand the depreciation of Indian currencychanged after it came to power. In thetext, he said the BJP used to propagate(prachar) in the past that the currencyof a country goes down if it has acorrupt government.

Headlines managed, economymismanaged: Rahul

In an apparent suicide pact, a couple and their eight-year-old daughter were foundhanging from the ceiling of their home here Wednesday morning, police said. Thecouple leaves behind a six-year-old son, and a purported suicide note which

mentions the man was unemployed. Sonu (30), along with his wife Geeta (28) andtheir daughter Shrishti used to live at thefirst floor of his father's house in sector10 at Awas Vikas, police said SeniorSuperintendent of Police (Agra) PrabhakarChaudhary said Wednesday morning thatpolice received information about theincident and rushed a team to the spot.According to the purported suicide noterecovered from the spot, Sonu wasunemployed and the couple decided tocommit suicide along with their daughter,he said. The couple also has a six-year-oldson, Shyam, who went outside to informthe neighbours about the incident, he said.

Couple, 8-yr-old daughter commit suicide in Agra

Assam Rifles to train studentsfor competitive examsPNS n GUWAHATI

An institute to mentor studentsfrom remote areas and eco-nomically-challenged back-grounds for competitive exam-inations is being established bythe Assam Rifles in Manipur.

The paramilitary forcesigned an agreement onTuesday with NationalIntegrity and EducationDevelopment Organisation(NIEDO), and Axis Bank toestablish the 'Assam RiflesCentre of EducationalExcellence' at Kangvai inChurachandpur district.

The project has been con-ceptualised as a year-long fullyresidential coaching and men-toring facility for studentsfrom economically weaker andunder-privileged sections forcompetitive examinations suchas NEET and JEE, a statementsaid.

The project is expected to befully functional for the firstbatch of 30 students by the firstweek of August, it added. This

will be the second institute ina series of initiatives that aimto transform educationalopportunities in remote loca-tions, with the first one com-ing up in Nagaland.

Governor La Ganesan saidthe initiative will provideaccess to high-quality educa-tion facilities to students whoare deprived of it.

Director-General of AssamRifles Lt Gen PC Nair said theinstitute will not only fulfil theaspirations of the talentedyouths of Manipur but also will

usher prosperity and happinessin society.

He said the mentoring willprovide value-based educa-tion, including soft skill train-ing, critical life competencies,leadership capabilities, per-sonal conditioning, wellnessprogrammes, vocational train-ing, personality developmentand end-to-end grooming.

CEO of NEIDO RohitSrivastava, and Head ofCorporate Affairs of Axis BankRudrapriyo Ray were presentat the programme.

PNS n KOLKATA

West Bengal governor JagdeepDhankhar on Wednesdayurged the Bengali intelligentsiato break their silence on whathe described as the "decima-tion of democratic values" inthe state.

Speaking to reporters afterpaying floral tributes at thestatue of Syama PrasadMookherjee on his birthanniversary, the governorclaimed West Bengal shouldnot become a place "wheredemocracy breathes its last"."We have become a laborato-

ry of human rights violations,"he claimed.

Dhankhar, who has had fre-quent run-ins with the

Trinamool Congress dispensa-tion in the state since takingover as governor in July 2019,asserted that he will not allowdemocracy to be decimated inthe state, maintaining that hecannot fail in his constitu-tional oath.

"The greatest threat todemocracy and which we can-not allow to happen, is extremeappeasement," he said.

Holding that Constitutionallows a fair approach andequality for all, he said theCentre has given a categoricalindication towards it throughthe policy of 'Sabka Sath, Sabka

Vikas'. Calling upon the peo-ple of the state to rememberMookherjee's contribution atthe time of Partition, the gov-ernor said that it was his sig-nificant role that resulted inwhat West Bengal is at present.

"The threat that was there atthe time of Partition could benullified by the great efforts ofthis great son of Bharat Ma(Mother India)," Dhankharsaid.

He said that Mookherjeewas a nationalist, freedom fighter and a great leader who sac-rificed his life in the true spir-it of service to 'Bharat Ma'.

‘We have become laboratory of humanrights violations': West Bengal Governor

PNS n NEW DELHI

An FIR was registered onWednesday against TMC MPMahua Moitra in Bhopal forallegedly "outraging religiousfeelings" as the row over hercomment on Goddess Kaliintensified with the WestBengal unit of the BJPdemanding her arrest andMoitra daring the saffron partyto "bring it on", saying she wasnot afraid of its "goons".

She also said that she was a"Kali worshipper and notafraid of anything". Moitra onTuesday triggered a controver-sy with her remarks that shehas every right as "an individ-

ual to imagine Goddess Kali asa meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess", as everyperson has the right to worshipgod and goddess in his or herown way. While her party,

Trinamool Congress distanceditself from the comment andcondemned it, senior Congressleader Shashi Tharoor said heis "taken aback by the attack"on Moitra and urged people to"lighten up and leave religion"to individuals to practice pri-vately.

Demanding her arrest, theBengal BJP said it would movethe court if no action was ini-tiated against her in 10 days bythe police.

Leader of Opposition in theWest Bengal AssemblySuvendu Adhikari said hun-dreds of police complaints hadbeen lodged against Moitraacross the state.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The minimum support price onagri crops should continue aslong as markets become compet-itive and efficient, but it shouldbe given through means otherthan procurement, governmentthink-tank Niti Aayog memberRamesh Chand said onWednesday.

Chand -- while addressing aconference on 'Getting agricul-ture markets right' -- organisedjointly by National StockExchange and ICRIER -- said:"Deficiency Pricing Payment(DPP)' is one such means of giv-ing MSP (Minimum SupportPrice) to farmers, but cautionedthat DPP cannot be stoppedonce implemented. Under DPP,

the difference between the openmarket price and MSP is given tofarmers, he said, adding that ithas been implemented in somestates like Madhya Pradesh.

MSP is a minimum price atwhich the government under-takes procurement. MSP is fixedfor 22-23 crops. Rice and wheat

are largely procured crops by thegovernment.

"In some cases, MSP is justi-fied in times of volatility inprices and glut. I feel what mat-ters is how we give MSP tofarmers. ...MSP has to be there aslong as markets are not compet-itive and efficient.

PNS n NEW DELHI

With the Rajya Sabha term ofMukhtar Abbas Naqvi endingon Thursday, the BJP will haveno Muslim MP among its 395Members of Parliament.

Naqvi, who resigned fromthe Cabinet on Wednesday, wasamong the three BJP MuslimMPs whose term ended duringthe recent round of RajyaSabha polls to 57 seats across15 states but none of them wererenominated by the party.

The term of two others, for-mer Union minister M J Akbarand Syed Zafar Islam, hasalready ended.

The opposition has beenaccusing the BJP of not givingadequate representation toMuslims, but the saffron party

has maintained that its MPswork for all communities andare not representatives of anyreligion. Over the decades,Muslim BJP MPs have had anominal presence inParliament. Naqvi himself hasbeen a Rajya Sabha member

for three terms, NajmaHeptulla for two terms andShahnawaz Hussain, current-ly a minister in the Bihar gov-ernment, was elected to LokSabha twice. Naqvi was a LokSabha member for one term aswell. Sikander Bakht, a

founder member of the partyand one of its first three gen-eral secretaries, was a RajyaSabha member twice.

It will be after a consider-able period of time that theBJP will not have any MuslimMP.

To questions about thedevelopment, BJP minoritymorcha chief Jamal Siddiquiasserted that politics shouldnot be attached with religionand that MPs are elected asrepresentatives of the peopleand not of any religion.

"So even if someone fromour religion or caste is notthere, we should understandthat our own countrymen arethere. Responsibilities keepon changing in the BJP and Iam confident that the party

will ensure representation ofall communities," he said.

The party also has Muslimlawmakers in some states,including one each in Biharand UP.

However, there is a buzzabout the party's outreach toMuslims, India's largestminority community, afterPrime Minister NarendraModi asked BJP leaders at itsrecent national executivemeeting in Hyderabad to cul-tivate deprived sections incommunities other thanHindus as well.

Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma alsohighlighted the party's goodperformance in local polls insome regions with a sizeableMuslim population.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Punjab Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann will onThursday tie the nuptial knot forthe second time.

Mann (48) separated from hisfirst wife in 2015. He has twochildren from his first marriage."The chief minister is gettingmarried in a private ceremonyhere tomorrow. He will tie theknot with Dr Gurpreet Kaur,who belongs to Pehowa inHaryana's Kurukshetra," AAP'sPunjab unit chief spokespersonMalvinder Singh Kang told PTIover the phone.

Only family members,including Mann's mother, sister,relatives, and a few guests will

attend the wedding, sourcessaid, adding Delhi ChiefMinister and AAP national con-vener Arvind Kejriwal is expect-ed to be in attendance. Sourcessaid that this marriage is anarranged one. State ministers

Harjot Bains and Aman Aroraas well as the party's seniorleader Raghav Chadha con-gratulated Mann on Twitter."Wishing my Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann Ji a very happyand blessed married life ahead.

I wish them both a lifetime oflove, respect and companion-ship," Bains said.

Arora congratulated Mannfor starting married life andwished "both a life full of hap-piness, joy, love, prosperity,health and companionship. Maythe almighty shower His bless-ings on both of you".

Senior AAP leader RaghavChadha gave his best wishes toMann and his would-be wife.

"Best wishes to my 'vaddeveer' (elder brother) Mann Saaband Dr Gurpreet Kaur for ahappy and blessed married life,"tweeted Chadha, who is a RajyaSabha MP. Punjab Congresspresident Amarinder Singh RajaWarring also congratulated

Mann as he starts a "new chap-ter in his life".

"My heartiest congratulationsto the CM Bhagwant Mann Ji ashe starts a new chapter in his lifetomorrow. Best wishes for ahappy and blissful married lifeahead," he tweeted. Mann's 21-year-old daughter Seerat and 17-year-old son Dilshan from hisfirst marriage had flown infrom the US for the ceremonywhen he took oath as Punjabchief minister in March.

Bhagwant Mann had takenoath on March 16 as Punjabchief minister at a ceremonyheld in freedom fighter BhagatSingh's village Khatkar Kalanvillage in Shaheed Bhagat SinghNagar district.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to get married today

India will lead fourth industrialrevolution, asserts PM ModiPNS n GUWAHATI

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Wednesday said that theCentre and the Assam govern-ment are working together tominimise the problems facedby people during the ongoingfloods in the state.

While virtually inauguratingthe Golden Jubilee celebra-tions of Assamese newspaper'Agradoot', he said the state andits people are struggling due tothe devastating floods this year,but Chief Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma and his team areworking hard to provide suc-cour to the affected people.

"I have been regularly speak-ing with the CM and others. Iwant to assure the people ofAssam that the central and thestate governments are workingtogether to minimise people'sproblems," he said.

Modi said that while India

lagged during the last threeindustrial revolutions as mostpeople did not have access toits vast knowledge, which is inIndian languages, the country,backed by digital knowledge,will lead the fourth industrialrevolution of the 21st century.

"Before Independence, our

languages didn't grow. In factthey shrunk as most peopledidn't have access to knowl-edge. The space for innovationand invention was limited.But the fourth industrial rev-olution in the 21st century willbe led by India on the back ofdigital knowledge," he said.

Need MSP till mrkts get competitive: NITI Aayog

BJP bags 102 of 130 seats unopposedin Arunachal panchayat bypollsPNS n ITANAGAR

The BJP bagged 102 of 130 pan-chayat seats unopposed inArunachal Pradesh where by-elections are scheduled nextweek, Panchayat MinisterBamang Felix said.

By-elections to 130 panchay-at seats and a zilla parishad con-stituency were scheduled to beheld on July 12. Of the 130 pan-chayat seats, BJP bagged 102unopposed. Another 14 seatswere secured unopposed byCongress, NPP andIndependents, Felix said.

BJP candidates have baggedunopposed all the panchayatseats in Tawang, West Kameng,

East Kameng, Pakke Kessang,Kamle, Upper Subansiri, WestSiang, Upper Siang, Namsai,Siang, Lower Siang, Tirap,Changlang and Longding dis-tricts. In Kurung Kumey, theBJP won five seats unopposed,while its ally NPP won one seat.The Congress managed to

secure the Gangte-I gram pan-chayat seat in Kra Daadi uncon-tested, while all the other fourseats were won by the BJP.

Chief Minister Pema Khandutweeted, "Congra tulations andthanks to all karyakartas, sup-porters and sympathisers forelecting 102 @BJP4Arunachalcandidates unopposed in bye-elections to 130 GramPanchayat Constituencies ofArunachal Pradesh."

Union Law minister KirenRijiu said the people ofArunachal Pradesh have fullfaith in the leadership of thechief minister, who is workingtirelessly to fulfill their aspira-tions.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

The Punjab Cabinet onWednesday accorded approvalto giving 600 units of freepower to every household perbilling cycle in the state witheffect from July 1. A decision tothis effect was taken in a meet-ing of the council of ministersheld here under the chairman-ship of Chief MinisterBhagwant Mann, an officialstatement said. Punjab has atwo-month billing cycle forpower supply. "All domesticconsumers in the state will beeligible to get zero bills if theirconsumption is up to 600 unitsin every billing cycle.

600 units of freepower to everyhousehold in Punjab

Naqvi's term ends; no more Muslim among BJP MPs FIR against Mahua Moitra for ‘Kali remark'; BJP demands arrest

PM to inaugurate 3-day seminar on National Education Policy today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a three-day seminar atVaranasi on Thursday which will see participation of over 300educationists deliberating on implementation of National Education

Policy, officials said. The Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam will providea platform for leading Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) todiscuss, deliberate and share insights on strategies, success storiesand best practices in implementing the National Education Policy (NEP),2020. Organized by the Ministry of Education in association withUniversity Grants Commission and Banaras Hindu University, theseminar will bring together over 300 Vice Chancellors and Directorsfrom public and private universities, educationists, policy makers, asalso industry representatives to deliberate on how the implementationof National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, can be taken further acrossthe country after successful implementation of several initiatives in thelast two years. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, willalso attend the summit, a senior MoE official said on Wednesday. "TheMinistry, along with UGC and AICTE, has brought in several policyinitiatives. The MoE official further explained that many universitieshave already onboarded the reform train but there are still many whoare yet to adopt and adapt to the changes.

After all thesleaze, the scandals and thefailure, it’s clearthat this Govt isnow collapsing.

Keir Starmer—Britain’s Oppn leader

My son is a rock

star. My daughter

is a chatterbox

and a full-on

momma’s girl.

Actor

—Shilpa Shetty Kundra

As the weather turns scorching and the wind speed picks up, pollution levels inthe summer are supposed to be lower than in the winter. However, pollutants inthe former case are more easily dispersed in the atmosphere thanks to the clear

skies. The increase in dust particles brought on by building activity and vehicle trafficis the main cause of summertime pollution, experts aver. This summer, a case in pointis that India not only faced increased heat but also more air pollution. A new reportreleased on Wednesday stated that the Capital experienced increased summertime airpollution in 2022 compared to 2021, with the city’s particulate matter levels signifi-cantly exceeding the normal limits. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) con-firmed that the allowed levels for PM 2.5 and PM 10 in Delhi during the four summermonths (March, April, May and June) this year were five times higher, according to

an analysis by NCAP Tracker, a project of environ-mental organisations Climate Trends and RespirerLiving Sciences. Interestingly, even abroad, in theLos Angeles region for example, the air quality sig-nificantly declined and remained dangerous afterhundreds of Fourth of July fireworks displays lit upthe skies there.

Due to the fireworks’ high amounts of particu-late matter and metal air pollutants, the South CoastAir Quality Management District issued a particle advi-sory for most of Southern California, from Los Angelesto the Coachella Valley. The South Coast Air Basin’sfine particulate matter levels on July 4 and July 5 are

routinely among the worst of the year. In addition to the fine particles already existingin the basin, mostly brought on by vehicles, fugitive dust and industrial pollutants, fire-works also contribute to smoke and combustion products. It has been well establishedthat the summertime and a warmer environment can affect air quality in a number ofways, with a variety of negative effects on human health and economy. Extreme weath-er conditions, as well as both natural and man-made pollution, run the risk of wors-ening our air quality and having a variety of negative health effects as our planet’s cli-mate changes. Fortunately, we have some control. Environmental insights with a healthfocus help us see the year-round effects of invisible air pollution. With the correct knowl-edge, we can enable individuals to take responsibility for the air they breathe.

The fracas between Chhattisgarh and Noida Police over detention of a news chan-nel anchor is not a healthy development. The arrest preceded high drama at theanchor’s house in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram on Tuesday morning. The Chhattisgarh

Police had come to arrest him with a warrant for his alleged role in doctoring a videoof Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The doctored video allegedly made it appear thatGandhi indirectly condoned the gruesome murder of the Udaipur tailor by a couple ofjihadists. Around 6.15 am, the anchor reached out to the Uttar Pradesh Police andGovernment, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, through a SoS tweet, sayingChhattisgarh cops had reached his residence to arrest him without informing the local

police. That brought Noida Police on the scene.Meanwhile, the news channel has distanced itself fromthe doctored video. It claimed in a police complaintthat the faux pas happened “due to oversight and inad-vertence”. The company claimed that two employ-ees have been dismissed. “In the given circumstances,the company has reasonable belief and suspicion thatthe aforesaid negligence and dereliction of duties mayhave been committed by (the producers) knowing-ly and intentionally in connivance with each other,”the company said in its police complaint. Only a probecan bring out the truth, but the incident has given voiceto sceptics who are increasingly questioning the inde-

pendence and integrity of several media houses. There is nothing wrong in taking apolitical stand on issues, but when a media organisation — or some of its journalists— is seen as promoting the interests of a party, it ceases to be journalism; it becomespoliticking, with all the attendant consequences. This episode should be seen as a les-son to the entire media: Nobody is outside the jurisdiction of the law of karma.

The political class should also realise that if cops are stopped or harassed whenthey are probing an interstate matter, the enforcement of law will be adversely affect-ed. This happened in May in the case against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga. The PunjabPolice wanted to arrest him for his “provocative statements and promoting religiousenmity”, but Delhi and Haryana police foiled the attempt. His tweets had targetedDelhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party boss Arvind Kejriwal. According to thePunjab Police, he was an offender who should be arrested, but this view was notshared by the police of Delhi and Haryana. Evidently, cops’ understanding of thelaw did not correspond with what is written in statute books but to the interests ofthe politicians they report to. This is not the rule of law; this is the rule of men andwomen who occupy political offices. In effect, it becomes the tyranny of arbitrari-ness, hurting all sooner or later. When editorialists bemoan it, they are often ridiculedas dreamy moralists. But the law of karma also catches up with cynics, includingjournalists and politicians.

Newsmen as news

GOVT-TWITTER FACE-OFFSir — The Government and Twitter havebeen at loggerheads over the new IT rulessince May 2021 and even earlier. The long-running confrontation over content regu-lation has now entered a new phase withTwitter moving the Karnataka High Courtagainst the Government’s ‘blocking orders’under the IT Act. The important questionto ask is, if the Government orders Twitterto take down content in the absence ofsound reasons, don’t undermine the notionof freedom of expression. The paramountand inviolability of freedom of expressionmust be upheld. Twitter has a point — itfinds the Government’s ‘recurring removalrequests’ too much of an interference in thecompany’s affairs

Sometimes the Government asksTwitter to not just block the posts, but takedown the user accounts themselves with-out notice to ‘content originators’. It is wide-ly known that Twitter incurred the displea-sure of the Government when tweets in sup-port of farmers’ protests and tweets criti-cal of the Government’s handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic found space on theplatform. The threat to strip the socialmedia company of ‘safe harbour immuni-ty’ is a blatant attempt to put pressure onTwitter to fall in with the ruling dispensa-tion.

G David Milton | Tamil Nadu

THE VALOUR OF J&K VILLAGERSSir — It speaks of the valour of villagers whooverpowered two hardcore terrorists whowere about to create havoc. The people ofReasi village deserve to be applauded fortactfully handling the case. This is a case ofunarmed and untrained people capturingarmed and trained terrorists. Theannouncement of cash reward of `5 lakhby L-G Manoj Sinha and `2 lakh by theDGP is welcome and the taxpayers' moneyhas been put to best use. Reasi villagers haveset a good example that they can also dowhat security forces can.

The nabbed terrorists were responsiblefor many terror incidents. The erosion of

30-year old terrorism in the Valley by secu-rity forces has been instilling confidenceamong people to live a peaceful life. Yet theterrorists want to prove that they are stillaround to create disturbance. The tribe ofterrorists has perished to a large extent aftersecurity forces were given a free hand to dealwith the situation. A Russian President oncesaid: “It is for God to forgive the terrorists.But it is our duty to send the terrorists toGod.” Also, courts should harness theirenergy in deciding the cases of captured ter-rorists expeditiously.

KV Seetharamaiah | Bengaluru

NEED TO SAVE AAREY FORESTSir — The rescheduled fifth Test of thePataudi Trophy turns out to be a ding-dongbattle. England playing at home was formi-dable and the toss favoured them to putTeam India to bat first. As in the four Testmatches last year, early wickets went cheap-ly and the rearguard action saw the teams

putting up a moderate total. After puttingup 400-plus, India was in the driver’s seat.England folded up for 284-plus and thatgave them a handsome 132-run lead andconsolidated their position.

With a score of 190 for 5, India dictat-ed terms but the sudden rush of blood sawit losing remaining wickets for just 55 runs.That collapse in one session triggered thefear of losing and England started on abright note and amassed 100 runs beforelosing the first wicket. Two more wicketsfell and still resolute batting from Root andBairstow saw the pair adding 269 runs,which saw the team sailing past the 10thhighest target and thereby squared the series2-2 in a convincing way. The absence of anoff-spinner was felt when the left-handersand Root thrived for long. England appliedan attacking policy and won.

CKR Nathan | Ghaziabad

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

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Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Double troublePeak summer conditions increase pollution levels and risk to environment, human health, economy

PICTALK

Farm workers plant paddy saplings at a field, in South Dinajpur PTI

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

The incident has brought the independence and integrity of several media houses under a cloud

Though India has one of the better air

safety indicators in the world as com-

pared to global average, recent several

flight scares bring to the fore urgency of

further strengthening air safety and need for

a comprehensive safety audit in the aviation

sector, airworthiness of aircraft, pilots’ train-

ing and ground safety. Several recent inci-

dents of midair troubles are scary and high-

light the situation that requires urgent DGCA

attention. A Delhi-Dubai flight had to make

an emergency landing at the Karachi Airport

after it developed a technical fault midair

with the malfunctioning of the fuel indicator;

then there was a fire incident in the aircraft

of Delhi-bound Patna flight while flying.

All this is a really dangerous and scary

thing as there was risk to 185 lives but due

to the pilot’s skill and ability to navigate,

despite the scary situation the aircraft land-

ed safely. Though modern passenger air-

crafts are built to operate even with one

operational engine, it can sometimes result

in catastrophe. The DGCA must put all mea-

sures in place for a robust air safety mecha-

nism. DGCA should conduct a thorough

investigation to find out the reasons for

such incidents. Also, the airlines should give

more attention to regular maintenance of

aircraft and upgrading the training for pilots

and air controllers. For a growing nation, air

safety should be top priority.

Ramesh G Jethwani | Bangalore

Safety audit for aviation sector

SOUNDBITE

lators in each camp. And, inthis case, the legislative wingsnecessarily consist of MPs,MLAs and maybe the count ofMLCs if the EC wants to con-sider. Secondly, the EC willexamine the strength of sup-port that each faction enjoyswithin the party’s organisa-tional setups. Here, the ECmay go a little further and askboth camps to produce thenecessary evidence with doc-umentary support.

The EC’s discretion: Now,the ball is in the EC’s court.When it is about a politicalparty, the EC will certainly lis-ten to all stakeholders, thenwhoever wants to be heard,and it will consider the pre-and the post- factual circum-stances that led to the splinter-ing. Here, the EC’s power willbe certainly at play. TheElection Symbols (Reservationand Allotment) Order, 1968,gives it power to deal with thevery issue. However, the EC’sdiscretion will finally prevailand remain binding.

As far as the EC’s discretiongoes, it doesn’t lack any restric-tion to decide in favour of oneof the factions or neither ofthese. However, in this case, itcan probably rule in favour of

one of the factions based on thereal majority of support itenjoys both in the organisationand in the legislative wings.Then, it can keep the partysymbol reserved for that fac-tion in majority and may askthe other faction to registeritself as a new political partywith a different symbol.

Who is at advantage? Asa recent precedent, a lesson canbe drawn from the SamajwadiParty case where the father-sonduo reached the EC to claimthe party’s symbol. Akhileshwon against Mulayam Yadav,evidencing that he not onlycommanded the Governmentbut also the party.

In this particular case, theE-faction may also be consid-ering to take over the partyeven before the EC steps in.E-faction has validated itsmajority in the legislativewings by establishing a freshGovernment in Maharashtra,followed by winning the floortest in the Assembly. Now, itis for the E-faction then toconfirm its majority in partyorganisation, particularly bybringing the Sena office bear-ers into its fold.

The final batting of the U-fraction: If certain people

break from the party, the anti-defection law comes into play.Under the law, whether it is oneperson or 100, the anti-defec-tion law comes into application.Defection equates to theintended partition from theparty and its membership; andat this very point, the U-frac-tion will surely stick to it.Nevertheless, on the disquali-fication issue, the only optionis to knock at the Speaker’soffice. But then, it is ratherunlikely that the Speaker wouldentertain such a petition.

New surprises: The totalstrength of MaharashtraAssembly is 287 and themajority mark is 144. The E-faction-led Government incoalition with BJP has wonthe floor test with 164.

Many independent MLAsare still roaming around thenegotiation camps as darkhorses. With Congress aswell as NCP as the focalpolitical contenders, the rul-ing faction on the edge mayunfurl added surprises bybreaking into their camp also.

(The author is AssistantProfessor of Political Science inMody University, Rajasthan.The views expressed are personal.)

Till the Election Commission decides who deserves the symbol, the Shinde campremains a faction; the Uddhav camp is nothing more than a diminishing ‘fraction’

THE SAVIOURS OF EITHER CAMP

MUST BE WORKINGOVERTIME TO WIN

THE TECHNICAL-LEGAL EXISTENTIAL

BATTLE AT EC BY ALLMEANS POSSIBLE.

IN PARTICULAR, THE POLITICAL

LEGITIMACY ANDFUTURE COURSE

FOR BOTH CAMPSHANG IN BALANCE

PADMALOCHAN DASH

Of the fractionor the faction?

Though the mainstreammedia equates both theShiv Sena groups withthe same bulk of com-

mand over the splintered party,the fact remains otherwise. It isnow clear that the bigger chunkhas already been taken away byEknath Shinde, and what is leftover for Uddhav is a tiny andstill-diminishing fraction.

Though the ‘faction’ hasalready formed the Governmentand passed the floor test, adeeper political crunch is stillundergoing within the largerShiv Sena Parivaar. The bone ofcontention and the fight forsurvival for both groups nowconcentrate on the most impor-tant question: Who will finallyown the party and its symbol?This will continue till the ECtakes the final call, deciding onwho qualifies to be the owner ofthe Shiv Sena and its symbol.

Now, the saviours of eithercamp must be hectic in exploringall thinkable routes to conquerthat technical-legal existentialbattle at EC by all means possible.In particular, the political legitima-cy and the future course for bothcamps will be on tenterhooks tillthe EC spells the final word.

Principles for the EC: Theopinion of experts shows thesuccess of either group dependson the single available option tothem — how they can successful-ly establish their majority beforethe EC. When the needle of theentire game sags to the evidenceof majority, it is pretty evident thateither faction must be tryinghard to drag it into their favour.

The focused dynamics: Thedynamics of proving the major-ity constitute the following para-meters, and the precedents indi-cate that the EC will certainlyexamine into it. So, the EC willexamine the support each fac-tion enjoys within the party’sorganisation, in the legislaturewing, in the top committees anddecision-making bodies.

Most importantly, beforedeciding on these factors, the ECwill certainly have to learn theShiv Sena constitution for once.As this particular case goes, themost tangible parameter that theEC will take into account is thenumber of lawmakers and legis-

Domestic outputof conventionaland indigenousnano urea willtotally replace theimports.

Union Fertiliser Minister—Mansukh Mandaviya

The BJP can do

what it wants,

but AAP won’t

let it sabotage

democracy.

Delhi Chief Minister

—Arvind Kejriwal

If we go back, ifthere’s no rain inthe first match, wecould have wonthe series.

India’s stand-in captain—Jasprit Bumrah

NATO faces two-frontgeostrategic challenges

THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. I MERELY

QUOTED…THE BANTER THAT ALREADY

EXISTS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

—OSCAR-WINNING SOUND DESIGNER

RESUL POOKUTTY

I DON’T THINK @RRRMOVIE IS A GAY LOVE

STORY BUT EVEN IF IT WAS, IS ‘GAY LOVE

STORY’ A BAD THING?

—BAAHUBALI PRODUCER

SHOBU YARLAGADDA

Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, which will be held in VaranasiJuly 7-9, will be a ‘Maha Kumbh of Higher Education’. The coreobjective is to extract Amrut (nectar) from a number of quality imper-

atives enshrined in the National Education Policy 2020. The event willalso mark the second anniversary of NEP 2020, which is aimed at mak-ing the youth future ready, while focusing on human values, life skillsand traits of Bharatiya civilisation.

The event would take stock of gains made from the learning sys-tem of India and transform it to empower youth with ‘glocal’ compe-tencies. Deliberations will be focused on mapping interests, abilities anddemands of the younger generation for framing enabling rules for NEP2020 on the basis of the objectives of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Also, theevent will re-visit and re-strategise already drawn pathways for the imple-mentation of NEP 2020. A key thrust area will be to prepare for a holis-tic perspective for flawless implementation of NEP 2020. Educationalluminaries will look at the ways to ensure speedy and effective imple-mentation of NEP 2020.

In knowledge driven society, the quality of education system pro-vides for economic vitality, health and overall well-being. NEP 2020 waslaunched on 29th July, 2020 with a view to transform the existing learn-ing system and to actualise the needs of the 21st century learners. Theseriousness of this mammoth assembly of Directors and Vice-Chancellorsof the higher educational institutions can be appreciated from the factthat the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will inaugurate and addressthe gathering. Education Minister Dharmendra Kumar will remain pre-sent during the course of the event.

India can become Atmanirbhar only when we make our youth com-petent enough to contribute meaningfully and purposefully and becomeinstrumental in the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 by making use of dis-ruptive digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, AugmentedReality, Virtual Reality, Intelligent Robotics, Big Data Analytics, CloudComputing and so on. In IR 4.0, Cyber-Physical Production System (CPPS)is utilized for industrial production. Education 4.0 envisages co-learn-ing, co-creation and innovation; anytime, anywhere, and any type of learn-ing. Also, it calls for the use of flipped classrooms for transforming pas-sive to active learning at home or outside, while institutions are usedfor skill-development. Besides, the thrust is also on personalized andcollaborative learning, as lesson plans become creative, and continu-ous training ensures updation of domain knowledge and skills.

In nutshell, it can be said that Education 4.0 is outcome-based.Senior academicians and officials at the event will focus on the need

to formulate policies to make youth future-ready to face a highly uncer-tain and volatile future. The speed of changes witnessed by the educa-tion sector is outpacing the ability of the existing system to respond ade-quately and appropriately. Indeed, the educational system faces the riskof becoming outdated if changes are not adopted.

Threadbare deliberations will take place on the student-centric andBharat-centric reforms, with thrust on skill-development and employa-bility, research, innovation and entrepreneurship, capacity building of teach-ers. Also, ways to ensure ranking and accreditation along with digitalempowerment and online education will be discussed. Indeed, equitableand inclusive education within the Indian knowledge system will alsobe addressed.

The Ministry of Education and the UGC are burning midnight oil inmaking provisions/regulations on outcome-based learning with multi-disciplinary curriculum, while offering students multiple exit-entry options.Also, academic bank of credits and education in mother tongue/region-al language at least up to primary level are among top concerns of NEP2020. Emphasis will also be on shift in pedagogy, while learners willhave to evolve to think like employees and employees will need to thinklike learners.

(The author is Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Punjab.)

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMN

EDUCATORS TO DISCUSSNEP IMPLEMENTATION

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

NISHTHA KAUSHIKI

The policy is focused on human valuesof Bharatiya civilisation

NATO HASFINALLY

WOKEN UP TOCHALLENGESBUILDING UP

IN EUROPE ONACCOUNT OF

RUSSIANAGGRESSIONS,WHILE CHINA’SEXPANSIONIST

ATTEMPTSHAVE

ALARMEDNEIGHBOURS

IN SOUTHCHINA SEA

It was a piece of news soobscure and implausible thatI missed it when it first sur-

faced last month. The news wasthat the Russians are going toput hypersonic nuclear missilesinto Nicaragua and terrify theAmericans into backing downover Ukraine. Or kill them allif they don’t.

“If American missile sys-tems can nearly reach Moscowfrom Ukrainian territory, it'stime for Russia to roll outsomething powerful closer tothe American ‘city on a hill’,” saidOlga Skabeyeva on the newsshow on ‘Rossiya-1’, the mostpopular Russian TV channel.

The usual crew of pan-elists hugged themselves withdelight at the idea of Americancities being blown away.“Objects like the city of NewYork, a good city, but it would

be gone. Completely gone withone rocket,” said one.

Then they rambled onabout how the Cuban missilecrisis of 1962 had brought theAmericans to their senses (betyou didn’t know that the USlost), and how Russian missilesin Nicaragua might bringAmericans to their senses again.They will give in before theyreally get hurt.

As a substantial majority ofthe Russian television audiencewatches the show, that’s thenews ordinary Russians aregetting. But if these peoplereally represent the Russianelite’s views of what is possibleand necessary, then we’re all introuble. Nuclear war is at hand.

I don’t really think nuclearwar is at hand, but there is a lotof loose talk about it in Russiaat the moment. So let’s examine

the optimistic assumption in theWest that some people in theRussian military and diplomat-ic hierarchies – hopefully quitesenior people – have a bettergrasp of reality than the televi-sion pundits.

Are there really Russiangenerals and senior foreignministry officials who thinkthat “American missile systemscan nearly reach Moscow fromthe Ukrainian territory”? If youmean American nuclear mis-siles, then of course not.

The United States has givennon-nuclear battlefield missilesto Ukraine, but it has deliberate-ly restricted the ammunition totypes that cannot reach any sig-nificant distance into Russia.There are no American troopsin Ukraine, and no nuclearweapons in Ukrainian hands.

The business about moving

American nuclear missiles ‘clos-er’ to Russia is complete tripe:they are just as lethal fromwhere they are now. Russiangenerals and diplomats are notstupid: they know thatAmerican nuclear weapons sys-tems have been able to reachRussia from the US homelandor any of the world’s oceanssince the 1960s.

Well, then, how wouldputting Russian nuclear missilesin Nicaragua, ‘closer’ to theUnited States, give Russia anyadvantage either? It wouldn’t,although it would probablyprovoke the US governmentinto a massive over-reaction.Like Russian nuclear missiles inCuba in 1962, you know?

The difference betweenCuba in 1962 and Nicaraguatoday is that ‘close’ still meantsomething in 1962, when the

United States already had inter-continental ballistic missilesthat could reach the old SovietUnion, but Russia had no long-range ballistic missiles thatcould hit American cities yet.

The Russians sneaked someshorter-range nuclear missilesinto Cuba to even things up, butthe Americans spotted them,imposed a blockade, and threat-ened to invade Cuba. Moscowpulled its missiles out, andeverybody lived grumpily everafter.

Nowadays, both Russia andthe United States have ampleweapons that they can fire ateach other from their home-lands. ‘Closer’ no longer confersany advantages. Besides,Nicaragua has not said it willhost Russian nuclear weapons,or indeed Russian weapons ofany sort.

Nicaraguan PresidentDaniel Ortega published adecree last month authorisingsmall numbers of troops fromRussia, the United States orother Central American coun-tries to deploy to his country fora limited time ‘for purposes oftraining, law enforcement oremergency response’.

Ortega was a Marxist in the1980s. After the Nicaraguanrevolution triumphed, he gotSoviet help, and US PresidentRonald Reagan financed aguerilla/terrorist movement inan unsuccessful attempt to bringhim down, but that was longago.

Now, Ortega is just anoth-er dictator like Putin. He rigselections, jails the opposition,and treats the state budget as hisprivate income. Nicaragua isbroke, so Ortega is happy to take

Russian money, but he’s proba-bly not stupid enough to let theRussians bring missiles in.

Russia’s much-hyped hyper-sonic missiles are irrelevantanyway, since ‘hypersonic’ mis-siles are only useful if a coun-try has good anti-missiledefences. In fact, nobody hasgood missile defences, so, theymake little difference strategical-ly. Dumb missiles with someterminal guidance work justfine.

The rational conclusion,therefore, is that this is all justpropaganda blather by ignorantRussian TV pundits, but awarning. I predicted that Russiawould not invade Ukrainebecause it would be utterlystupid to do. I am still assum-ing that Russian leaders arerational, but now I have somedoubts.

Nowadays, both Russia and the United States have ample weapons that they can fire at each other from their homelands

Bizarre Cuban Missile Crisis redux in Nicaragua

(The author’s new book isThe Shortest History of War)

GWYNNE DYER

RAGHAVENDRA P TIWARI

The Chinese hegemonic intentionsare visible from its deterioratingrelations with the West and India,the growing tensions in the Taiwan

Strait and the South China Sea, apart fromthe human rights issues in Tibet and theXinjiang region.

Financial crises in Sri Lanka andPakistan further worsen matters. In 2020,China replaced the United States as the EU'slargest trading partner. By 2021, Beijing hadbuilt 50 per cent of the total ships in theworld. Through various mechanisms suchas design collaboration agreements, cyberespionage, and acquisitions, China hascopied advanced innovative ship designs,endangering the West's future naval produc-tions. In a nutshell, the world is witnessingChina's coercive policies in internationalpolitics and geo-economics, a deeplyembedded civil-military fusion throughespionage and dual-use production facili-ties, which raises sovereignty issues for sev-eral countries.

On the other hand, from the FrenchPresident's statement in 2019 that NATOis "brain dead" to the 2022 Russia-Ukraineconflict and the completion of the acces-sion protocols of Sweden and Finland, thealliance has been reinvigorated with its newTrans-Pacific identity through the 2022Madrid summit. The heads of the states ofNATO's Asian regional partners —Australia, Japan, New Zealand and SouthKorea — attended the NATO Summit, anew development indicating the expand-ing horizons of Asia's militarization tocounter the Chinese hegemonic designs.The message stands clear, NATO is pivot-ing to Asia. The NATO 2022 'StrategicConcept' minced no words to state that the"PRC's malicious hybrid and cyber opera-tions and its confrontational rhetoric anddisinformation target Allies and harmAlliance security". It strongly indicates thatNATO now prioritizes the Indo-Pacificregion. Before the 2022 summit, the foreignministers of these four countries met at theNorth Atlantic Council (NAC) inDecember 2020 for the first time to pushthe emerging multilateral interoperabilityin the Indo-Pacific. This was in the back-drop of the "NATO 2030" expert reflectiongroup that had labelled China as a "full-spectrum systemic rival, rather than a pure-ly economic player or an only Asia-focusedsecurity actor."

However, President Barack Obamawas the first leader to foresee the Chinesethreat and announced the "pivot" policy in2011, while addressing the AustralianParliament. Further, Secretary of StateHillary Clinton penned an essay titled"America's Pacific Century," where sheargued for a "strategic turn to the region",which indicated relocating the US navyfrom West Asia to the South China Sea. Thepolicy did not receive much attention, giventhe U.S. engagements in West Asia andAfghanistan. Nevertheless, today, theregion's shifting sands, whereby the U.S. has

NATO needs to reimagine its role to defend two fronts, inEurope and the Indo-Pacific region

The author is AssistantProfessor, Central

University of Punjab,Bathinda

snowballed the peace processthrough the Abraham accords andthe Saudi-Turkey peace process,strongly indicate that the upcomingdays in the Indo-Pacific will behighly turbulent. From anotheressential perspective, the militariza-tion of the Indo-Pacific regionwould also provoke China andRussia to react, thereby offsettingthe relative peace on Russia'sEastern and Southern borders.Over the last few decades, Russiahas adopted a relatively peacefulapproach in the two directions toentirely focus on its Western front.The change in NATO's strategy thuswould be testing for the Sino-Russian friendship as Russia ismore focused on Europe.

Nevertheless, the prelude to thenew Cold War, the Russia-Ukraineconflict, has led to a consensus inEurope that it needs to view Russiaas its primary geopolitical challenge.At the same summit, NATO alsodecided to increase its rapidlydeployable troops by 300,000, apartfrom doubling or tripling to thebrigade level in the Baltic States andfive other frontline countries.Further, it plans to increase muni-tions and other supplies in responseto Russia's aggressiveness. Thisoverhauling of the deploymentswould be complete by 2023.Currently, the defence spending ofits members will increase by 1.2 per-cent in real terms by the end of2022. Simultaneously, as Europeintends to reduce its energy depen-dencies, a pertinent question thatneeds to be pondered over is, at thesame point of time, what would bethe proportion of financial and mil-itary commitments of NATOtowards first, the European Defence,and second, the containment of

China in the Indo-Pacific region?Which objective would be a prior-ity for the European countries? Canthey counter two threats at the sametime? The Ukraine-Russia conflictmight continue for a couple of moremonths, if not years.

Moreover, what if Chinadecides to invade Taiwan during thesame period or creates crises in theIndo-Pacific region? It must berecalled that during the Russia-Ukraine conflict's initial phase,France and Germany were reluctantto cut off their gas supplies. Thefuture is hard to predict, and so arethe sustenance levels of multiplemilitary alliances. What then hap-pens to the safety of allies in Asiais worth pondering. Thus, NATOneeds to develop a genuinelytransatlantic China policy in addi-tion to the deployments in the Indo-Pacific, which might make Chinamore reactionary and possibly pro-voke it to test the unity of NATO.

Three crucial issues emergeregarding South and Central Asiaand the recent developments. First,attempts by Russia and China toexpand their joint sphere of influ-ence to include countries having ananti-American perspective, suchas Iran and Pakistan. The emergingcounter quad can present a formi-dable challenge to the West's allies.Second, the destruction of the agri-cultural fertility of Ukraine will leadto increased demand for foodgrains. One of the most criticalinputs for good agricultural produceare phosphates, the supplies dom-inated by China, which can be usedas an essential geopolitical toolagainst the West via the suppliercountries, especially in South andCentral Asia. Third, the impact ofthe conflict would be the rise in the

earth's average temperatures, par-ticularly in the Arctic region; hence,melting the ice would be a newstrategic issue. The opening of thenew sea routes, especially in the arc-tic, would further bring the Indo-Pacific region to the centre of thegravity of the upcoming new con-flicts.

India firmly believes in multi-polarity and hence has its presencein China-led SCO, BRICS, and RICapart from its strategic partnershipin the Quad grouping. The multi-alignment policy of PM NarendraModi has yielded positive results.As the militarization of Asia isimminent and there are increasedchances of confrontations, themoment presents India with anopportunity to delicately balancehegemonic tendencies and demo-cratic ideals without compromisingIndia's security and sovereignty. Forthis, it becomes essential that thecountry adjusts its budget to soonemerge as a self-reliant defenceactor to maintain the strategicautonomy, failing which it might besandwiched between the armstrade geopolitics of the West andRussia. Even for a couple of years,some hard decisions to divertfinancial resources towards indige-nous development and emergencyprocurements of cyber and spacecapabilities is a must. On the flipside, we also need to evolve ourpolicies in case the hegemonictendencies pose an imminentthreat. In such a case, New Delhi’straditional ally, such as Russia,might side with China and hencewould allow India to find militaryand tactical support from the will-ing partners, thereby bringing pro-found changes in the South Asiansecurity architecture.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022 Money 08

MO

NE

Y M

AT

TE

RS

The finance ministry has extended the exemption of customs duty on raw cottonimports by a month till October 31.On April 14, the ministry had given exemption fromthe duty and Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC) till September 30,

2022, for import of cotton to lower prices in the domestic market.In a notification dated July 4, the ministry extended this till October 31, 2022.Amid rise in cotton and yarn prices, the textilesministry had been pitching for an extension ofthe duty waiver beyond September.Industrytoo had been demanding extension of the duty-free import of cotton. Before April 14, rawcotton imports attracted 5 per cent BasicCustoms Duty (BCD) and an equal percentageof AIDC.The exemption from duty wouldbenefit the textile chain -- yarn, fabric,garments and made-ups -- and provide reliefto consumers.Cotton prices have increasedfrom Rs 44,500 per candy in February, 2021,to Rs 90,000 per candy in March 2022. Eachcandy weights 356 kilogram.

Honda India Power Products Ltd (HIPP) on Wednesday announced its foray into thee-commerce space with plans to sell its products exclusively through its webstoreto cash in on the pandemic-induced digital adoption.The company is making its

products, including generators, water pumps, tillers and brush cutters, available on thewebsite for direct purchase.It is aiming to get closer to its customers by embracing moredigital connectivity and reach out topotential customers who currently findit difficult to visit the nearest company'sdealerships."We have more than 600outlets across India. However, in someplaces customers are 50 kilometersaway from our nearest outlet... Sothrough our website customers canchoose and compare products andmake payments and the dealers willtake care of pre delivery inspection andafter sales service," HIPP Chairman andManaging Director, President, and CEOTakahiro Ueda told PTI.

BMW Group India on Wednesday reported 64.2 per cent growth in its car sales at5,570 units in the January-June period of 2022.The BMW brand posted sales of5,191 units during the period, a growth of 65.4 per cent while the MINI clocked 379

units, an increase of 50 per cent over the comparable period last year, the group said in astatement.The group's luxury motorcycle brand BMW Motorrad registered sales of 3,114units at a growth of 56.7 per cent in thefirst half of 2022, it added."Against allodds, BMW Group is taking rapid andconsistent strides in India. Despite theturbulences caused by various factors inthe domestic and international market, wehave achieved the best-ever half-yearlysales performance for BMW, MINI andBMW Motorrad," BMW Group IndiaPresident Vikram Pawah said.He furthersaid, "This success underpins theenormously strong demand for BMWGroup products in the luxury car andpremium motorcycle segment in India."

FinMin extends duty exemption onraw cotton imports

Honda India Power Products enterse-commerce space

BMW Group India reports 64.2 pcrise in car sales

PNS n NEW DELHI

Domestic coal productionrose sharply by 32 per cent to67.59 million tonnes (MT) inJune 2022 compared to 50.98MT in the same month lastyear, the Coal Ministry saidon Wednesday.

"Coal India Ltd (CIL),Singareni Collieries CompanyLtd (SCCL) and captivemines/others registered agrowth of 28.87 per cent,5.50 per cent and 83.53 percent by producing 51.56 MT,5.56 MT and 10.47 MT,respectively", the ministrysaid citing its provisionaldata.

Of the top 37 coal mines, asmany as 22 mines producedmore than 100 per cent, andproduction at another ninemines stood between 80 percent and 100 per cent, it said.

At the same time, coaldespatch also increased by20.69 per cent to 75.46 MT

from 62.53 MT as comparedto June 2021. During June2022, CIL and captives/othersregistered a growth of 15.20per cent and 88.23 per cent bydespatching 58.98 MT and11.05 MT, respectively.

The despatch to power util-ities has grown by 30.77 percent to 64.89 MT during Junethis year as compared to 49.62MT in June last year due toincrease in power demand.

"The overall power gener-

ation in June 2022 has been17.73 per cent higher than inJune 2021. However, Coalbased power generation in themonth of June 2022 has been95880 MU in comparison to98,609 MU (million unit) inMay 2022 and registered anegative growth of 2.77 percent," the ministry said.

Total power generation hasalso decreased in June 2022 to1,38,995 MU from 1,40,059MU in May 2022.

Coal output grows 32 pc to 67.59MT ; despatches rise 20 pc

PNS n MUMBAI

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on Wednesday further liber-alised norms to boost inflowsof foreign exchange, includingdoubling the borrowing limitunder the ECB route, amidthe rupee falling against theUS dollar.

In a statement, the centralbank said it has been closelyand continuously monitoringthe liquidity conditions inthe forex market and hasstepped in as needed in all itssegments to alleviate dollartightness with the objective ofensuring orderly market func-tioning.

The measures taken by thecentral bank comes in thebackdrop of rupee depreciat-ing by 4.1 per cent against theUS dollar during the currentfinancial year so far (up to

July 5) amid the ongoinggeopolitical tensions.

"In order to further diver-sify and expand the sources offorex funding so as to mitigatevolatility and dampen globalspillovers", the central banksaid it has decided to under-take five measures to enhanceforex inflows while ensuringoverall macroeconomic and

financial stability.The measures include eas-

ing norms for FPI invest-ment in debt market, andincreasing the ExternalCommercial Borrowing(ECB) limit under the auto-matic route from USD 750million or its equivalent perfinancial year to USD 1.5 bil-lion.

RBI liberalises normsto boost forex inflows

PNS n NEW DELHI

Google on Wednesdayannounced an initiative,Startup School India, that aimsto organise accumulatedknowledge into a structuredcurriculum to enable startupsin small cities overcome vari-ous challenges.

Google hopes that the pro-gramme will help 10,000 star-tups in tier 2 and tier 3 cities(smaller cities).

The nine-week programme,delivered virtually, will havefireside chats between Googleleaders and collaborators fromacross the startup ecosystem,spanning fintech, business-to-business and business-to-con-sumer e-commerce, language,social media and networking,job search and other areas.

The curriculum will feature

instructional modules on sub-jects such as shaping an effec-tive product strategy, deepdives on product user value,building apps for next billionusers in markets like India, dri-ving user acquisition amongothers.

With nearly 70,000 star-tups, India is the third largestbase for startups in the world.As more Indian founders leadtheir companies successfully toIPOs or unicorn status, it hassparked a virtuous cyclewherein their success storieshave ignited aspirations amongyoung Indians across the coun-try.

No longer restricted only tolarger cities like Bengaluru,Delhi, Mumbai or Hyderabad,promising startups are mush-rooming in centers such asJaipur, Indore, Gorakhpur and

other locations.In fact, these account for

nearly 50 per cent of all recog-nised startups in India, at pre-sent.That said, 90 per cent ofall startups fail within the first

five years of their journey,mostly for the similar key rea-sons -- unmanaged cash burn,flawed demand assessment,ineffective feedback loops orlack of leadership, Google said

in a blogpost.The latest initia-tive recognises this void, andacknowledges the need forprogrammes that can organiseaccumulated knowledge into astructured curriculum and

deliver it across a wide foot-print.

"Startup School India - aGoogle for Startups initiativeis designed to do precisely thatas we align our efforts to sup-port this expansion," the com-pany said.Indian entrepreneurshave garnered a wealth ofinstitutional knowledge,Google said, noting that adefining tradition of the com-munity has been knowledgesharing, which helps otherslearn faster, avoid known pit-falls and borrow useful growthhacks.

"Aimed at early stagefounders with a minimumviable product, the programmeprovides the flexibility of a vir-tual curriculum and allowsattendees to pick and choosethe modules they'd like totune in for," the blogpost said.

Google announces Startup School India initiative

PNS n MUMBAI

Benchmark stock indicesSensex and Nifty reboundedover 1 per cent on Wednesdayfollowing buying in FMCG,financials and auto stocksamid softening crude oilprices and foreign funds turn-ing net buyers of domesticequities after a long gap.

The 30-share BSE barom-eter climbed 616.62 points or1.16 per cent to settle at53,750.97 as 25 of its sharesended in the green. Duringthe day, it rallied 684.96points or 1.28 per cent to53,819.31.The NSE Nifty shotup 178.95 points or 1.13 percent to 15,989.80 with 40constituents posting gains.

Among Sensex shares, BajajFinserv, Bajaj Finance,Hindustan Unilever, AsianPaints, Titan, Maruti SuzukiIndia, Kotak Mahindra Bankand Nestle were the majorgainers.

Power Grid, NTPC,

Reliance Industries, Larsen &Toubro and Tata Steel werethe laggards.

Softening crude oil prices,FIIs repositioning to net buy-ers and strong business datafrom lenders boosted domes-tic equities, Vinod Nair, Headof Research at GeojitFinancial Services, said.

Crude prices fell sharply by10 per cent on Tuesday which"boosted the appetite for con-sumption, chemicals, logisticsand OMCs as it will reducethe cost burden of these sec-tors", Nair said.

In the broader market, theBSE midcap gauge jumped1.76 per cent and smallcapindex climbed 0.94 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoralindices, auto jumped 2.73per cent, followed by con-sumer discretionary goods &services (2.47 per cent),FMCG (2.45 per cent), con-sumer durables (2.42 percent) and realty (2.39 percent).

Sensex, Nifty rebound over 1 pcas financials, FMCG shares gain

PNS n NEW DELHI

With an aim to reduce pollu-tion and introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles, the govern-ment has proposed to makeit mandatory for light, medi-um and heavy duty motorvehicles of various categoriesto comply with fuel con-sumption standards fromApril 2023, according to anofficial statement.

The statement said thecontinued compliance to fuelconsumption standards shallbe verified as per the proce-dure of conformity of produc-tion, outlined in theAutomotive IndustryStandard 149.

"The Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways(MoRTH) has issued a noti-fication dated 1st July 2022,amending Rule 115 G of theCentral Motor Vehicle Rules(CMVR) 1989, to includecompliance with FuelConsumption Standards

(FCS), for light, medium andheavy duty motor vehicles ofvarious categories, manufac-tured in, or imported by,India," it said.

Prior to this notification,the statement said, compli-ance with annual fuel con-sumption standard wasapplicable to vehicles of M1category (motor vehicle usedfor carriage of passengers,comprising not more than 8seats, in addition to the dri-ver's seat) with Gross VehicleWeight (GVW) up to 3.5tonnes.

The MoRTH in a statementsaid the aim of this notifica-tion is to expand the ambit ofvehicles for compliance withFCS, and hence introducemore fuel efficient vehicles.

The statement further saidthe date of applicability of thisnotification is April 1, 2023and comments have beeninvited from all stakeholderswithin 30 days from the dateof the notification.

Govt to implement fuelconsumption standards

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold prices in the nationalcapital on Wednesday fell byRs 760 to Rs 51,304 per 10grams, according to HDFCSecurities.In the previoustrade, the yellow metal set-tled at Rs 52,064 per 10grams.

Silver also tumbled by Rs1,276 to Rs 56,930 per kgfrom Rs 58,206 per kg in theprevious trade.In the interna-tional market, gold was trad-ing higher at USD 1,770 perounce while silver was flat atUSD 19.94 per ounce.

"Gold prices traded firmwith spot gold prices atCOMEX trading 0.35 percent up at USD 1,770 perounce," said Tapan Patel,Senior Analyst(Commodities) at HDFCSecurities.

Gold falls Rs 760;silver tumbles Rs1,276

KRAs to report cyber attacks within six hours of detecting them

Ban on service charge in food bills without any legal basisPNS n NEW DELHI

The National RestaurantAssociation of India (NRAI)on Wednesday said the govern-ment cannot make changes inlevy of service charge in foodbills by making guidelines andCCPA's decision to bar hotelsand restaurants from suchpractice has created unneces-sary confusion amongst con-sumers and disrupted smoothoperations of restaurants.

It alleged that there is anattempt to start a campaignagainst this restaurant industrypractice without any legal basisthrough "repeated guidelines",while asserting that servicecharge is part of the total priceof a product and neither thegovernment nor any authori-ty can interfere with the deci-sion of the business owner inthis regard.

In a statement, NRAI arguedthat service charge is a part ofthe owner's discretion or deci-sion regarding the total price

payable by a customer withregards to sale or service of aproduct.

"It constitutes one of thecomponents of the total priceof the product. Neither thegovernment nor any authori-ty can interfere with the deci-sion of the business owner inthis regard. It is a universallyaccepted trade practice," itasserted.

NRAI also claimed that thelegality, reasonableness or jus-tification of levying service

charge has been considered bythe Supreme Court, HighCourts, National ConsumerDisputes RedressalCommission, erstwhileMonopolies and RestrictiveTrade Practices Commissionand by the Income TaxAuthorities (ITAT) and hasbeen "upheld in various judi-cial pronouncements".

"It is therefore the owner'sdiscretion as to how to run itsbusiness and what policyshould be put in place regard-

ing pricing of the product. Thegovernment cannot bringabout a change insofar as a levyof service charge is concernedby making guidelines," it said.

Stressing that guidelines bythe very nature of things areonly for guidance, the industrybody said, "in case there is aneed for such change, there hasto be either a new law or anamendment in the existinglaws."

NRAI further said, "It isalso relevant to state that extracharges are being levied bymany other industries, includ-ing some government agencies.However, the guidelines areissued only for the restaurantindustry."On Monday, theCentral Consumer ProtectionAuthority (CCPA) barredhotels and restaurants fromlevying service charge auto-matically or by default in foodbills and allowed customers tofile complaints in case of vio-lation, amid rising consumercomplaints.

Inflation continued to ‘hithard’ FMCG industry : GCPLPNS n NEW DELHI

The country's FMCG industrycontinued to be "hit hard byinflation levels" leading tosuccessive price hikes as wellas impacting volumes duringthe three months ended June,according to GodrejConsumer Products Ltd(GCPL).

In its update for the firstquarter of the current fiscal,the leading FMCG player alsosaid that rural markets wit-nessed slower growth com-pared to urban markets dur-ing the period.

GCPL expects to deliverearly double-digit sales growthon a high base in India and thegrowth will be mostly "price-driven".The company wouldhave "mid-single-digit vol-umes drop on a high base,

with a 3-year volume CAGRclose to mid-single digits," inthe domestic market, as perthe update."The Indian FMCGindustry continued to remainsoft during the quarter. Itcontinued to be hit hard byinflation levels aggravatingdue to geopolitical tensions,leading to successive priceincreases and impacting vol-

umes," GCPL said.In recentmonths, inflation has beenon the rise in most of the mar-kets worldwide.

Among the internationalmarkets, GCPL said that inIndonesia, which is the com-pany's second-largest marketafter India, also faced animpact on consumption andmargins.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The asset base of domesticmutual fund industry witnessedan annual growth of 14 per centto reach Rs 37.75 lakh crore inthe three months ended June onsustained inflows in equityschemes by way of SIPs(Systematic Investment Plans)and lumpsum investments.

Going ahead, the long termtrend and acceptability of mutu-

al funds across different investorsegments will continue tostrengthen taking the AssetsUnder Management (AUM) tonew highs, Abhishek Dev, Co-Founder and CEO of EpsilonMoney, said. According toAssociation of Mutual Funds inIndia (Amfi) data, the industry'saverage AUM rose to Rs 37.75lakh crore in the quarter endedJune 2022 from Rs 33.2 lakhcrore at the end of June 2021.

MF industry's asset base rises14 pc to Rs 37.75 lakh cr PNS n NEW DELHI

Capital markets regulatorSebi has asked the KYCRegistrat ion Agencies(KRAs) to report all cyberattacks, threats and breach-es experienced by themwithin six hours of detectingsuch incidents.

The incident will also bereported to the IndianComputer EmergencyResponse team (CERT-In) inaccordance with the guide-

lines issued by CERT-Infrom time to time, accordingto a circular.

Additionally, the KRAs,whose systems have beenidentified as 'protected sys-tem' by National CriticalInformation InfrastructureProtection Centre (NCIIPC)will also report such inci-dents to NCIIPC."All cyberattacks, threats, cyber inci-dents and breaches experi-enced by KRAs shall bereported to Sebi within six

hours of noticing / detectingsuch incidents or beingbrought to notice about suchincidents," the regulator said

on Tuesday.The quarterlyreports containing informa-t ion on cyber attacks ,threats, cyber incidents andbreaches experienced by thestock brokers and deposito-ry participants and mea-sures taken to mitigate thevulnerabilities, includinginformation on bugs vul-nerabilities, threats that maybe useful for others, willhave to be submitted to Sebiwithin 15 days from the endof every quarter.

9

Vijayawada | Thursday July 7, 2022 what’s brewing?Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae to make new

spy movie with directorial debut Hunt

Squid Game star LeeJung-jae said that hisdirectorial debut Hunt

is a mix of his decades-longexperience as an actor andhis dream of making a newtype of spy movie.

Hunt is a story about tworival intelligence agents inSouth Korea, Park Pyong-ho(Lee) and Lee Jung-do (JungWoo-sung), who separatelychase after a North Koreanspy leaking top secret infor-mation that could jeopardisenational security. The twoend up discovering a plot toassassinate the SouthKorean president, Yonhapnews agency reported.

It premiered as part of thenon-competition MidnightScreening section at thisyear's Cannes Film Festivalheld in May.

It is Lee's first film wherehe works behind the camerain his 30-year acting career,during which he has starredin about 40 films and TVseries. He also wrote thescript of his maiden film.

“Although I've been inthis world for a long time, Ithought writing and direct-

ing are different from act-ing. So I hesitated a lot. ButI decided to take charge ofthis project and dived intoit,” Lee said in a press con-ference.

For his directorial debut,he said that he spent most ofpre production, which lastedfor four years, in writing thescript. He tried to buildemotions of each characterwho confronts unknownand unseen spies, and com-bines them with his ownstyle of suspense, thrill andaction from the beginning.

“As many male actors do,I used to enjoy espionagefilms. As a director, I wantedto create a new type of spy

film with Hunt,” said Lee,who rose to internationalfame with the global sensa-tion Squid Game.

“Before going into anaction sequence, I helpactors build their emotionsand get deeply immersed inthe situation. I think thisemotional building explainsthe violence and ragebehind the action scenes.”

The 48-year old actor-director-writer said it wasnot easy for him to directhimself.

“I know I can't do bothwell. I kept that in mindfrom the beginning,” hesaid.

“So I tried to focus more

on acting when actors stoodout, while I concentrated ondirecting when directorialparts are more important.”

Hunt is his first projectfollowing the global sensa-tion Squid Game, whichbrought him a number ofmajor acting prizes in theUnited States, including bestlead actor at the ScreenActors Guild Awards.

It has also been in themedia spotlight due to thereunion of the lead actors,Lee and Jung, from the 1999drama film City Of TheRising Sun.

Actor Jung Woo-sung,who is well known as an oldfriend of Lee, said he accept-ed Lee's offer to star in hisdirectorial debut because ofLee's passion in the project,not because of theirdecades-long friendship.

“I tried to distance myselffrom his project and see itfrom an objective point ofview,” he said. “I thought hewas ready to do it. I knowhow much effort he has putinto it.”

Hunt will hit Koreanscreens on August 10.

Cezanne Khan On Playing ChefAnd Love For Food In Appnapan

asautii Zindagi Kayactor CezanneKhan, who is seenplaying Nikhil, acelebrity chef in the

show Appnapan -BadalteRishton Ka Bandhan, revealswhy this show was the rightchoice for him and how hislove for food helped him playchef with perfection.

On what made him chooseAppnapan, he says, “I have aspecial connection withBalaji Telefilms because theygave me my biggest breakand made me a householdname. Appnapan is a familydrama which is differentfrom what I have done previ-ously. Whenever a challeng-ing role comes across, everyactor wants to do it.”

He finds his role in theshow different and afterreading the script, he foundit intriguing and relatable.“This is something very dif-ferent and I am sure peoplewill like it because theyhaven't seen me do a charac-ter like this before. The storywill not only tug the audi-ence's heart but will makethem connect to each andevery character in the showas well because all of them

have a story to tell which isquite relatable,” he adds.

The 44-year-old actor saysthat his on-screen characterNikhil and himself in realityare complete opposites.

“My character Nikhil and Iare poles apart and don'tshare any kind of similarities.But, one common thing thatwe both share is that I love tocook and enjoy eating whichis the same with Nikhil as

well. So, we are similar alongthose lines. Otherwise, bothof us are quite different andthat's what pulled me intodoing the role because it waschallenging for me to portraya character who is unlike mein every sense,” he shares.

Playing a chef means thatyou get to be around food alot. When asked if cookingcomes naturally to him, hesaid, “I am not a chef but I

do like to cook and morethan that I am a foodie.Cooking does not come nat-urally to me but I don't findit difficult. I am good atchopping and making things.I am not talking aboutomelette and all, I can makegood food like tandoori etc. Imay not be great like mycharacter but it's not like Ican't cook. There have beentimes when I have cooked alot of stuff. I am not bad.” Onhow he prepared himself forhis role, the actor gives creditto Ekta R. Kapoor for mak-ing him understand his char-acter, “Ektaa briefed us onthe role. The way she hadperceived the character, sheexplained to us properly. Youare seeing your character, butthe director is seeing everycharacter. He is like the cap-tain of the ship.”

“I prefer being a director'sactor till the time I don'tgrasp the script completely.Once I get into the game andI know the character, thepush is not required,” he con-cludes.

Appnapana - BadalteRishton Ka Bandhan airs onSony EntertainmentTelevision.

k

The Pine Knob MusicTheatre in Clarkston,Michigan saw veteran

guitarist Carlos Santanapassing out onstage duringthe Miraculous Supernatural2022 tour with Earth, Wind

and Fire. However, Santanawas treated quickly and wasseen waving to fans as he waswheeled offstage, reportsVariety.

According to a statementfrom his representative,

accessed by Variety, Santana‘was overtaken by heatexhaustion and dehydration’,and was taken to the emer-gency department atMcLaren Clarkston hospitalfor observation.

Santana's manager,Michael Vrionis, issued astatement late Tuesday(Pacific Standard Time) say-ing, “the musician is doingwell, although the concertscheduled for July 6 at thePavilion at Star Lake inBurgettstown, Pa. will bepostponed to a later date.More details to follow thruLive Nation,” he added.

Sources told Variety thatSantana was about 20 min-utes into his set when he sat

down on the drum riser atthe beginning of the song Joyand then fell backwards.Medical personnel rushedonstage and the crowd wasinitially “asked to pray forhim because of a 'seriousmedical' issue,” according toa Tweet from Fox2 Detroit'sRoop Raj.

Along with touring,Santana is also working withfilmmaker Rudy Valdez onan upcoming biographicaldocumentary, produced byImagine Documentaries andSony Music Entertainment.

A native of Mexico,Santana began playing theguitar as a child and latermoved with his family toCalifornia.

Carlos Santana Passes OutOn Stage During Live

Performance In Michigan

Rapper Kanye West has shared hisstaggering seven-figure perfor-mance fee when debunking a

claim that he charged $1 million for aperformance.

Kanye responded toRapThoughtsDaily’s Instagram postabout several artists’ performance fee.Catching wind of the post, the Atlantanative contacted the Instagram account

and asked to correct it as he claimedthat he actually charges much morethan $1 million, reportsaceshowbiz.com.

“Please change this,” Kanye wrote tothe account, adding, “my performancefee is $8 million.”

The account also noted in the cap-tion of its post, “Kanye messaged its$8Million not $1 Million,” and shareda screenshot of the rapper’s message tothem via its Story.

Previously, the hip-hop Instagramaccount put together a list of artists’performance fees, which included thelikes of Joey Bada$$, JID, DenzelCurry, Vince Staples, Kid Cudi andTyler, the Creator. According to theaccount, Drake’s show costs $500,000,while Young Thug charges triple at$1.5 million per show.

Kanye has made Forbes’ list ofworldwide billionaires. According tothe magazine, per April this year, theGrammy Award-winning artist’s networth is $2 billion, making him thewealthiest musician in the world.

Kanye West says he charges muchmore than $1mn for a performance

FUN

ARCHIE

GARFIELDREALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

SUDOKU

Rulesl Each row and column can

contain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

PNS | HYDERABAD

he poor have been a partof that section of societywho have been ignoredfor years, leading to noaccess to essential ser-vices. Thanks to organi-

sations like the GrameenFoundation, who are working hardfor the betterment of these people.

Grameen Foundation enjoys aunique position among develop-ment organisations in the country.They have a bottom-of-the-pyra-mid client approach, a deep set ofchannels, and technologies appro-priate for serving low-income andunder-served population segments.

Founded in 1997, Grameen Bankwas inspired by Nobel LaureateProfessor Mohammad Yunus, thefounder of Grameen Bank and aglobal leader in the fight againstpoverty.Over the years, it hasgrown into a global non-profit thathelps the world’s poorest peoplereach their full potential by provid-ing access to essential financial ser-vices and information on agricul-ture and health.

Debopama Sen, the director, tellsus, “I believe that all of us desire toimprove our lives and that all of us,even the poorest among us, canreach our full potential if we aregiven access to the right tools andtimely information.” Globally, theiragriculture programmes providesolutions to the problems that con-front smallholder farmers everyday, whether that is access tofinance, farm inputs, weather infor-mation, technical information forfarm and production management,or markets. They specialise indesigning and implementing inno-vative programmes to facilitateaccess to finance, livelihood oppor-

tunities, health and nutrition infor-mation amongst low-income peo-ple.

They address the barriers on thedemand-side and supply-sidethrough scalable models, the use oftechnology applications, and inno-vative partnerships. In doing so,they work closely with the privatesector, governments, agricultureand health implementers, mobilenetwork operators, financial insti-tutions, and other stakeholders toprime their solutions for adoptionand scale. They believe that whenpoor rural women are empoweredwith knowledge and commensurateresources, they are able to trans-form their lives and the lives oftheir larger communities. Theirprojects have already impactedover 1 million women. And theyare working to impact a billionmore.

She adds, “We have been doingpioneering work in the area offinancial inclusion with low-income communities, especiallywomen. We focus on innovationand digital to offer the last mile offinancial connectivity to reach theunbanked and underserved popu-lation with a range of cost-effectivefinancial services and products.Then, there is a programme thatseeks to transform the agriculturalsector in selected districts by pro-moting a food systems approach toagriculture through nutrition-focused crop diversification, intro-ducing innovative women's-friend-ly and climate-smart technologies,and developing market linkages.”

That's not all. They havedesigned the Lakshyavati pro-gramme to improve educationalattainment and reduce schooldropout rates amongst girlsbetween Grades VII and XII. Girlsbelonging to low-income familiessuffer the risk of having their edu-cation de-prioritised when theyreach middle school, often leadingto early marriages for most ofthem. To address and arrest thisreality, they run a scholarship pro-gramme to provide a fixed monthlybursary, which is transferreddirectly to the bank accounts ofover 65 girls. All the 65 girls havecontinued their education.

Smallholder farmers in Indiaface enormous challenges and highoperating costs due to inefficien-cies in agriculture supply chains,lack of awareness.

Their additional Grameen KisanConnect platform addresses thesechallenges of smallholder farmers,especially women, in improvingaccess to finance, technology, agri-culture inputs, and the market fortheir produce with the ultimateobjective of increasing farmers’incomes.

Changing lives with financialassistance

t

TEJAL SINHA

Content creation has beenone of those industries thathas given a platform to

many people to express them-selves. Of course, nothing comesready-made. Surviving as a con-tent creator is not an easy task.There’s a lot behind those thou-sands of likes and views.

Many content creators felt thepandemic was real-time for themto entertain their followers. Oneamongst them is Harjas Sethi,aka Vellijanani. Harjas has herown journey behind being one ofthe ranting queens on the inter-net. Content creation was neverpre-planned for her, but some-thing that had randomly startedand become her mode ofexpressing herself. She says, “Iwas enjoying it. In fact, I used toput videos up every day, with onevideo every single day. I reallyliked the process of creation. Ireally loved to find a conceptevery night so that I could createit the next morning, and thathappened when I had like 800followers.”

We're sure most working peo-ple had a great time workingfrom home in their most com-fortable ‘pyjamas’. Being a corpo-rate professional, she too hadsome amazing experiences work-ing from home, until shereceived a mail to return to the

office. Isn't it more akin toheartbreak? She made avideo on this which wentviral all over the world, notonly on Instagram but onother social media plat-forms as well. In fact, shewas even in the news.“People in my office werelike, ‘Why does she uploadsuch videos and stuff? Butthen when I received mailfrom my office to get backto the office, I made thisWFH video that just blewup. That was when, I got alot of audiences within aweek. My account wentfrom 800 to 35k followers,and I found new ways ofentertaining my audience.Most of the time, it is myself-expression.”

Harjas believes that herlife has not changed muchsince the time that shestarted making contentand tries to make herselfbe the same person as sheis in her real life.

She says, “It's just that Ihave some people on theinternet who know me. It'snice to share your life withthem sometimes. I try tobe the person I am in reallife. I do not try to fabri-cate or be another person,although there's a side ofme that I portray on theinternet and not all of me,

even then I try to keep it as realisticas possible. There is no change in mypersonal life. My mother still treatsme the same (she laughs). My friendsand my colleagues too still treat methe same. Workwise, yes. I feel reallyexcited about doing new things onInstagram. Content creation for mestarted off as an interest and not ajob, but now it looks like a job, whichwas not the same initially. Initially, itwas something I was doing for fun. Ifsomething I like turns into a goal ofmy thoughts, then I think there isnothing better than that. Career-wiseand goal-wise, I like how my life hasturned.”

According to Harjas, there’s noth-

ing called as ‘Success Mantra’.Different things work for differentpeople. However, one thing for her isbeing herself.

She shares, “Truly accepting thatit's okay is my style. When I startedcontent creation, I would get over-whelmed by seeing this person get-ting so many views, so I even triedsomething like that, but that may notwork for me. Getting to understandyourself or what and how you wantto portray yourself and how youwant to put yourself out there andunderstanding why people arewatching you, what they like aboutyou, and also surprising them withsomething new as well. In my case,that has worked.”

Every time a person expressesthemselves or gives their opinion,trollers are these ever-ready peopleto just troll and pass on vulgar com-ments. In fact, the comments on herposts are filledwith trolls.

Speaking aboutthem, she says,“There are allkinds of people inthe world and onthe internet.Sadly, there's nofilter that you canput in and youhave to be on thereceiving end.There are a lot ofthings you don'tdeserve. There arepeople who aregoing to love youand there are peo-ple who are goingto hate you, andthat's okay.Initially, trolls didaffect me becauseI wasn't used tothem. When thevideo blew up, Ihad no experienceof being a personon the internet. Alot of hate alsocame my way, andI retaliated. Istarted exposingthem and it's

fine.”“I have changed my way of han-

dling them. If there's like a commentfrom a public account, I try to makesomething funny out of it withouthurting them or myself. Sometimesit's important to put your feet downand make people aware of it. In factlast year, I also filed a cybercrimecomplaint against this guy who con-tinuously harassed me on all socialmedia platforms. It got to such apoint that I had to take it to thepolice station. People make fun ofsaying you have grey hairs, aunty, itdoesn't bother me at all (she laughs)but there are things I am insecureabout and if people go to commenton that then it may hurt me. So Ikeep reminding myself that one,social media doesn't tell myselfworth, a person cannot tell myselfworth who doesn't even know me,”she signs off.

The Pioneer connectswith Harjas Sethi, akaVellijanani, whoshares with us herjourney in contentcreation and how shehas her own way ofgiving it back to thetrollers

Sta

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This is such an exciting phase forIndian FMCG. At no other pointin history have we seen this indus-

try go through such rapid waves of inno-vation and creativity as it is seeing today.Walk out into the market and you seemultiple brands that are unabashedlyIndian and extremely successful.

But who is responsible for this spurtof product-within-product categories?Who’s been ensuring that brands makewhat they want to buy? That's a no-

brainer really.Of course, they are none other than

Generation Z. Love them or hate them,none of us can ignore them. Layingclaim to almost 50% of India’s totalworking population, Gen Y and Gen Z isa totally new breed of consumers, whoare more inclined to buy into an ‘idea’than the product itself.

Gen Z is constantly challenging thestatus quo, influencing change at a poli-cy level, and demanding the higheststandards of quality, ethical practicesand benefits from every brand. Puttogether, these two generations are thebiggest reason for the rapid-fire innova-tion we’ve seen in products that we usein our daily lives. So, when Zoomers buya product, they invest in the idea thathelps them live the lifestyle of theirchoice.

Paramdeep Singh Anand, CEO,FieldAssist says, “They are the first gen-eration, digital natives. 60% of transac-tions from Millennials and Gen-Z arecompleted using online wallets. More

than 63% of Millennials make their pur-chases online because it’s convenient.They get access to products that are notavailable in stores near them and alsobecause they get better discounts andcan make purchases as many times asthey want without having to step out.”

Look around and you’ll notice thatmany new brands today are started ‘ByMillennials and For Millennials’. Andthey are killing it in the market becausethese brands speak their language, they

live where they live, theyknow what makes themtick, and more important-ly, they know what theywill buy.

Considering that Indiahas the largest Millennialand GenZ workforce inthe world today, whichtranslates to significantspending power, the mar-ket is ripe for FMCG star-tups to offer purpose-led,benefit-heavy products.From chemical-free baby

products to zero-calorie flavoured tonicsto packaged cold-brewed coffee to fresh-ly sourced antibiotic-free meats to men’sgrooming kits to made-in-India audioproducts, the FMCG industry in Indialooks like it’s having a party.

It’s so heartening to see these youngbrands not only survive but flourish inthe aftermath of the pandemic. Fromwhat I have observed, it was the sheermarket potential of the Indian marketthat helped companies adjust their sailsand ride out the storm with determina-tion.

Their stories of grit and thinking ontheir feet are motivating hundreds ofother FMCG startups to take their brandfrom idea to product, and carve out aniche of their own. And mind you, noneof these brands is lacking in ambition,capital or the intent to be the best atwhat they do. Most of them can easilycompete for head-on with global brandsin their category. They are here to telltheir own story. They are here to beprofitable. They are here to win.

Love them or hate them;

they’re here to RULE

ThursdayJuly 7, 2022

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JULY 7, 2022

AP n GALLE

Australia's Steve Smith saidWednesday he found

England's new attacking"Bazball" approach entertainingto watch, but questionedwhether it was sustainable.

England have won all fourTests under new coachBrendon "Baz" McCullum andskipper Ben Stokes with a fear-less new mentality, includingthrashing India on Tuesday.

"I've watched a little bit ofit, it's certainly been entertain-ing, they're coming out playingtheir shots," Smith said aheadof Australia's second Testagainst Sri Lanka starting onFriday.

"Even someone like AlexLees started to come down thewicket when he was on noth-ing really to play the way heplayed (against India)," he toldreporters.

Having tongue-in-cheekshouted "Bazball" beforewhacking a shot in an earliernet session, Smith said he was"intrigued to see how long itlasts, if it's sustainable.

"If you come on a wicketthat's got some grass and JoshHazlewood, (Pat) Cumminsand (Mitchell) Starc are rolling

in at you. Is it going to be thesame? We'll see what happens."

England's Joe Root nowhas more centuries to his namethan Smith, but the Australianwas quick to point out that hisrival has played 35 more Tests.

"He's a quality player andlooks like he's pretty tough toget out at the moment," Smithsaid of the prolific run-getter.

The touring Australianteam have themselves playedattacking cricket on turningpitches to go one-up in the two-Test series with a hammering

of the hosts in the opener.Spinner Nathan Lyon led

the bowling charge with ninewickets in the match and thebatsmen took control of theopposition spinners withCameron Green scoring 77 ashe used the sweep shot togood effect.

"We went at a good pace inthe first Test. If you were sittingthere not playing your shots orlooking to score, you wereprobably going to get out even-tually. So it was get them beforethey get us," Smith said.

PTI n SOUTHAMPTON

Experimentation will go out of thewindow as India will get downto finalising their best eleven for

the World Cup during the three-match T20 series against an ultra-aggressive England, beginning here onThursday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma, who missedthe fifth Test in Birmingham after con-tracting COVID-19, will be travellingto the port city on Wednesday and isexpected to feature in the series-open-er.

Test players including Virat Kohli,Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja,Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant will jointhe T20 squad from the second gameonwards.

Their absence would give fringeplayers like Ruturaj Gaikwad and SanjuSamson one more game to make a state-ment though they seem to have fallenin the pecking order in India's list ofprobables for the World Cup inAustralia.

A niggle meant Gaikwad could notopen alongside Ishan Kishan in the twogames in Ireland and if Rohit is back,he will have to warm the bench onceagain.

Kishan has done reasonably well inthe chances that he has got and he willlook to strengthen his position in theteam as a reserve opener with a substan-tial knock against the mighty England.

With Kohli expected to be back atnumber three from game two, DeepakHooda will be aiming for anothermatch-winning effort to keep himselfin the mix.

With a century and 47 not outagainst Ireland, Hooda has certainlymade it tougher for the team manage-ment to keep him out of the eleven.

The uncapped duo of RahulTripathi and Arshdeep Singh have notbeen included for second and third T20and it is unlikely they will get a look inon Thursday.

Suryakumar Yadav, who made acomeback from injury against Ireland,could not get going in the games inMalahide and will be backing himselfto get back to his innovative best. Heand Hooda were amongst the runs inthe warm-up against Derbyshire lastweek.

In the bowling department, pacerUmran Malik will be brimming withconfidence after defending 17 runs inthe last over of a high-scoring secondT20 against Ireland. However, heremains a work in progress and needsto improve on his accuracy.

The pacers including the seasonedBhuvneshwar Kumar and wily Harshal

Patel were stunned by the Irish attackand against a tougher opposition, theywill have to be at their best.

Yuzvendra Chahal will be expect-ed to replace Ravi Bishnoi in the play-ing eleven.

India have about 15 T20 games toplay before the T20 World Cup inAustralia in October -- three againstEngland in the current series, fiveagainst the West Indies (July 29-August7), about 5 in Asia Cup (August-

September) and three against Australia(September).

The England series will mark thebeginning of the process to identify itsbest XI for the marquee event.

For England, the series marks thebeginning of the Jos Buttler era follow-ing the retirement of Eoin Morgan.

Ben Stokes and star of the fifth Testagainst India, Jonny Bairstow, have beenrested from the series.

However, there is enough firepow-er in the England batting to rattle theopposition.

Both Buttler and Liam Livingstoneshowed devastating form in the IPL andwould be looking to build on that.

PTIn PALLEKELE

Aconfident India will look to completethe formalities and assert their

supremacy by completing a whitewash ofSri Lanka in the third and final women'sODI here on Thursday.

Playing ODI cricket for the first timesince the talismanic Mithali Raj retiredfrom the game, the Indian team won theopening two games in contrasting fash-ion to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in thethree-match series.

The visitors had bagged the preced-ing T20I series 2-1.

Chasing similar targets, India lookedmuch more confident in the second ODIas they galloped to 10-wicket win onMonday.

India controlled all aspects of thegame. It was the kind of dominant dis-play expected out of Harmanpreet Kaurand her troops through out the tour ofthe island nation.

After an underwhelming tour bytheir standards, star openers SmritiMandhana and Shefali Verma finallyjoined the party with unbeaten half cen-turies.

The duo, that had struggled to builda decent partnership and provide electri-fying starts in the first ODI and the T20series, would be keen for an encore in thefinal game.

New full-time skipper Harmanpreethas been India's most consistent playerthis series. The all-rounder has shonewith the bat, her innings often turningout to be the difference between the twosides.

While, Indian spinners were rulingthe roost on the slow tracks in the T20s,

the ODI series has belonged to pacerRenuka Singh, who has picked sevenwickets in the two 50-over matches,including a career best 4/28.

In the absence of veteran JhulanGoswami, who has often been the side'sbest pacer, Renuka's performance showsthat that young and relatively inexperi-enced Indian pace unit has potential.

A 3-0 series win will also boost thevisitors' confidence for their next assign-ment — the Commonwealth Games inBirmingham.

Sri Lanka will, once again, be keento pick up a conciliatory win like they didin the T20 series.

Let down by its batters this series, theChamari Athapaththu-led side wouldhope it can navigate the Indian bowlingattack better in the dead rubber.

On the bowling front, the spin duoof Inoka Ranaweera and OshadiRanasinghe have been the stand-out play-ers, doing most of the heavy lifting.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday namedIndia captain for the three ODIs against the

West Indies in the absence of regular skipperRohit Sharma, while Virat Kohli and RishabhPant were among those who have been restedfor the series beginning on July 22 in Port ofSpain, Trinidad.

Two other senior players, Jasprit Bumrahand Mohammad Shami have also been rested.Hardik Pandya, who recently made his India

comeback following a successful IPL, is also nota part of the side.

Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, RuturajGaikwad and Avesh Khan, who are not part ofODI squad for the series in England beginningJuly 12, have been included in the 16-memberteam for the West Indies tour.

Shubman Gill, who last played an ODI inDecember 2020, has also got the selectors' nod.

Ravindra Jadeja has been named Dhawan'sdeputy for the series.

Dhawan, who only plays ODI, had first cap-tained the side during the tour of Sri Lanka lastyear when the Test specialists were in England.

There has been criticism from some quar-ters regarding the appointment of too many cap-tains of the Indian team over the past one yearwith Bumrah, Pant, Rahul, Hardik, Dhawanleading the side due to scheduling and injuryissues, and as part of workload management.

All the three games will be played in Portof Spain.

The games in the West Indies are the onlyODIs India will play before the T20 World Cupin Australia and therefore, senior players beingrested doesn't come entirely as a surprise.

After the ODIs, India will play five T20Isagainst the West Indies in the Caribbean and theUnited States, the squad for which is yet to beannounced.

Considering every T20I game is importantbefore the World Cup in Australia, the seniorplayers are likely to return for the five-matchseries to be played from July 29 to August 7. TheT20I matches will be played in Trinidad, St Kittsand Lauderhill in Florida.ODI Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad,Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, SuryakumarYadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), SanjuSamson (wk), Shardul Thakur, YuzvendraChahal, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, PrasidhKrishna, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

PTI n DUBAI

India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant blazedhis way into a career-best fifth position in the latest

ICC Test rankings announced on Wednesday, even asthe out-of-form Virat Kohli dropped out of top-10 forthe first time in six years.

Pant's meteoric rise in the rankings comes after hisheroics in the recently-held COVID-delayed fifth Testbetween India and England in which he scored 146 and57 across two innings.

It is worth mentioning that Pant scored two tonsand three half centuries in his last six Test innings.

However, former India skipper Kohli dropped fourplaces to 13th in the batting rankings, thanks to a pro-longed lean run.

Interestingly, it is for the first time in six years thatKohli has found himself out of top 10 in the Test rank-ings.

Current Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who missedthe Edgbaston Test after testing positive for COVID-19, also dropped one place in the rankings.

England batter Joe Root, who reigned supreme atEdbagston with a sublime 142 in England's secondinnings, consolidated his position at the top of the rank-ings with 923 points, with Australians MarnusLabuschagne and Steve Smith taking the second andthird positions respectively.

Jonny Bairstow, who is in the form of his life andplayed a pivotal role in guiding England to a historicvictory with his unbeaten 114, climbed 11 places to 10thin the rankings.

Bairstow has so far scored 1218 runs at an averageof 55.36 with six centuries in the current ICC WorldTest Championship cycle.

PTI n PALLEKELE

Young Indian opener Shafali Verma,who is known for her big-hitting

prowess, says she is making a consciouseffort to improve her strike rotation tobecome a better cricketer.

The 18-year-old slammed a run-a-ball 71 not out, her career-best score inODIs, in an unbroken 174-run partner-ship with Smriti Mandhana (94 not out)as India decimated the hosts by 10 wick-

ets here on Monday to take a unassail-able 2-0 lead in the three match series.

The 18-year-old has not been ableto maintain consistency in her perform-ances, especially in the 50-over format.

"Having seen my past matches, Ithought I lacked in taking singles, so I'veworked on it. I'm trying to be better asI feel taking singles is very important tobuild your innings in ODIs," Shafali saidon the eve of the third and final ODI ofthe series.

"If it's a good ball, it's about takingsingles and rotating the strike. If youkeep rotating strike, scoring boundariesbecome easy. I'm also working a lot onmy fitness."

In the preceding T20 series, Shafalifailed to convert her starts and got outfor 31, 17 and 5 in the three matches.

But in the ODIs, she scored her firsthalf-century in the format since the oneagainst South Africa in the World Cupin March.

PTI n AMSTELVEEN

Alacklustre Indian women'shockey team need to tick all

boxes against New Zealand in itsfinal Pool B match to seal adirect quarterfinal place in theFIH World Cup, here onThursday.

The Indians, who achieveda historic fourth place finish inlast year's Olympics, drew 1-1against Tokyo bronze medallistEngland and China in theirfirst two pool matches.

The Savita-led side is cur-rently placed third in Pool B withtwo points below China andleaders New Zealand, whodefeated England 3-1 onTuesday.

"New Zealand will be atough team to play. They arevery dangerous in their count-er-attack and we will have to beready for that, on the ball wehave to play to our strengths,"chief coach Janneke Schopmansaid.

According to the tourna-ment format, the 16 teams aredivided in four pools of fourteams each. The top four sidesfrom each pool will directlyqualify for the quarterfinals,while the second and third

placed teams will feature in thecrossovers.

The winner of the crossover matches will grab theremaining four quarterfinalspots. So, India would look foran outright win against NewZealand and hope for a Chinesedraw or a loss against Englandto top Pool B.

But going by the way theyplayed in the first two matches,it would be easier said thandone.

While the Indian defence

has impressed in both thematches, denying England asingle penalty corner in thefirst game, it is the performanceof the forwardline and midfieldwhich was found wanting.

Barring Vandana Katariya,who scored India's two goals, noother striker could live uptoexpectations so far with thelikes of Lalremsiami, SharmilaDevi and Navneet Kaur cuttinga sorry figure.

It is not that the Indians did-n't create chances, but they

failed to grab those opportuni-ties.

The midfield too needs toraise their game as it lookedrusty against China.

Penalty corner conversion isalso an area of concern forSchopman as India made use ofjust two out of the 12 earned intwo games, and that too both thegoals coming through indirect-ly from the sticks of Vandana.

While against England,Vandana scored from a rebound,against China she got a beauti-

ful deflection to Gurjit's flick todraw India level.

"I thought we started wellagainst a tight Chinese defense.We were unlucky to not scoreearly on and one moment of notpaying attention defensivelyresulted in us conceding a goal,"Schopman said.

"After that we struggled fora bit but when we found thespace, we were able to playsome good combinations."

"The PC goal was great butfelt like we forgot to pushthrough after that with Chinabeing more aggressive in the endphase.

"We are where we are butobviously, we would have likedto have more points. Our poolis incredibly tough and smallthings will make the differ-ence," she added.

Gurjit Kaur too needs topolish her skills and raise herconversion rate if India have toprogress far in the tournament.

The Black Sticks women,however, would be brimmingwith confidence after the winover England.

Both the sides would havea fair idea about the equationsthey need as China and Englandplay earlier on Thursday.

Pant surges tocareer-best No. 5

SQUADEngland: Jos Buttler (Captain), MoeenAli, Harry Brook, Sam Curran,Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, LiamLivingstone, Dawid Malan, TymalMills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy,Phil Salt, Reece Topley and DavidWilley.India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), IshanKishan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, SanjuSamson, Suryakumar Yadav, DeepakHooda, Rahul Tripathi, DineshKarthik (wk), Hardik Pandya,Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal,Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, BhuvneshwarKumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan,Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.

England vs IndiaLive from 10:30pm IST

SONY SIX, TEN 3

INDIA BEGIN PREPS TO PICK BEST WT20 ELEVEN

Dhawan to lead India in WI ODIs India aim to whitewash Sri Lanka

Have made a conscious effort to improve strike rotation: Shafali

Sri Lanka vs IndiaLive from 10:00 am IST

FANCODE

Smith unfazed by ‘Bazball' India eye win against NZ to stay in huntIndia vs New ZealandLive from 11:00pm IST

STAR SPORTS 1

12

Vijayawada | Thursday July 7, 2022 tollywoodCinematography helped me understand

how scenes work: Director AnjiIt looks like

before gettinginto directing,

Anji understoodthe A to Z offilmmaking,

which led him todirect 10th

Grade Diaries.The Pioneer

connects withhim, during

which we get toknow that he

will also be doingfilms as a

cinematographeras well

PNS | HYDERABAD

The movie 10th ClassDiaries, directed byGaruda Vega Anji,

stars Sriram aka Srikanthand Avika Gor in leadroles.

In this interview, direc-tor Anji talks about hisnew venture and tells usthat this film is not a fic-tional story. The producer,Achut Rama Rao, wrote itbased on his real-life expe-riences and observations.And that’s the reason whyyou will find a wide rangeof elements in the movie.

The director has previ-ously worked with Sriramtwice as a cinematographer,and they have alwaysshared a strong rapport.This is a story with raresensibilities.

Anji didn't want to debutas a director with a thrilleror a regular commercialentertainer. So he is alsodoing films as a cinematog-rapher simultaneously. Hesays, “My experience as acinematographer helpedme understand the visualappeal of cinema and howscenes work. I have got to

work with several directorsover the years, startingwith Ram Gopal Varma.When the producer of 10thClass Diaries narrated thestory, I decided to go in-depth. I marshalled mywide experience to give mybest shot. Moreover, Ireceived thorough supportfrom my team.”

But it was Garuda Vegathat turned out to be agame-changer for him.How? He narrated,“Cranking the camera forPSV, Garuda Vega changedmy surname. I have sincethen been called as GarudaVega Anji. The credit goesto its director, whoseunique visual sense mademe deliver the output I did.Since then, quite a fewmovies done by me havefetched me a name for mycinematography work.”

For any specific reasons,why did he choose Sriramand Avika for the leadroles? He recalled, “Themale protagonist had tolook middle-aged. That'swhy I chose Sriram for therole. Moreover, I haveknown him for many years.He is handsome and, at thesame time, looks mellow

and emotional. He canmake the audience emo-tionally connect with hisfeelings. And Avika Gorlooks like a girl next door.The character needed thosevibes. After ChinnariPellakuthuru, she had acertain image. That's whywe picked her. She andSriram are superb actors.They also come with vastexperience as actors.”

The director was 15years old when he enteredthe film industry. As such,he doesn't have fond mem-ories of his adolescentdays. While making the10th class diaries, his minddid wander into his child-hood days at times. Thestory was not written byhim. So he had to adapt toit. Moreover, the goodnews is, “My next film as adirector is ready. Seniordirector G NageshwaraReddy has penned its storyand screenplay. The film isBujji Ila Raa, starringSunil, ChandiniTamilarasan, and Dhanraj.I will wield the megaphoneonly if something inspiringcomes my way. Otherwise,I will stick to cinematogra-phy.”

gent, AkhilAkkineni'sgrandiose project,has been in theworks for quite

some time and has hadnumerous delays. The filmhas been postponed yetagain, much to the chagrinof fans.

Production of the picturehas been slow, and the Agentteam is currently consider-ing a December 2022 releasedate.

The main causes of thedelays are Akhil's injuriesand several schedule back-logs. It is also alleged thatthe film has undergoneextensive script modifica-

tions as well as actor replace-ments. This acclaimed pan-India project is being fundedby AK Entertainment andSurender 2 Cinema, and isdirected by Surender Reddy.The producers are notskimping on actionsequences and are spendinga lot of money on them.After the underwhelmingresult of his previous filmMost Eligible Bachelor, Akhilhas high hopes for this prod-uct and hence, is not readyfor any compromises.

Malayalam SuperstarMammootty is playing avital role in the cop storywith an international crimein the backdrop.

Agent postponed, again!

a

he King Khan ofBollywood Shah RukhKhan has three filmslined up to entertain hisfans, out of which Jawan

has been the most hyped project.Jawan, a Pan-Indian film helmedby Atlee has Kollywood lady super-star Nayanthara playing the femalelead.

According to sources, the makershave also approached Uppena actorVijay Sethupathi for an importantrole in the film.

A source close to the develop-

ment has revealed that it is truethat the makers had approachedSethupathi for the role of villain.However, nothing has been con-firmed yet.

“He is yet to give his nod for thefilm so there is no truth about himjoining the shoot soon in Mumbai.He is still working on his dates onlyfor Atlee,” said the source.

The source has also revealed thatNayanthara had also resumed theMumbai schedule which will con-tinue till July 15.

The makers had recently released

the first look of Shah Rukh Khanfrom Jawan. The film is slated tohit the theaters on June 2, 2023.The mega project also stars PriyaMani, Sanya Malhotra, and SunilGrover in important roles.

Sethupathi is currently baskingin the success of Kamal Haasanstarrer Vikram. Apart from this, healso has some interesting Hindiprojects like Farzi co-starringShahid Kapoor, Sriram Raghavan'sMerry Christmas featuring KatrinaKaif in the lead, and Mumbaikarco-starring Vikrant Massey.

Vijay Sethupathi still in talks for Jawan?

t

On the heels of releasingthe first looks of Vikramas Aditya Karikalan and

Karthi as Vanthiyathevan fromdirector Mani Ratnam’s mag-num opus, Ponniyin Selvan, themakers of the much-awaitedepic film on Wednesday releasedthe first look of Aishwarya RaiBachchan as Queen Nandini inthe film.

Lyca Productions, which isproducing the film along withMani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies,tweeted the first look picture ofAishwarya Rai in the film andsaid, “Vengeance has a beautifulface! Meet Nandini, the queen ofPazhuvoor.”

The first part of the film,which will release on September30 this year, will release in fivelanguages; Tamil, Telugu,Malayalam, Kannada, andHindi.

The film is based on the clas-sic Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvanby eminent writer Kalki. Thefilm, called by Mani Ratnam ashis dream project, will be amongthe most expensive projects everundertaken in the country.

Aishwarya Rai’s look as Queen Nandini

from Ponniyin Selvan revealed

Offering a glimpse into differentaspects of love in the form ofstories set in Hyderabad, the

soon-to-be-released Modern LoveHyderabad has renowned actor Revathiessaying the role of Mehrunnisa, a moth-er in one of the episodes. Revathy andNithya Menen are mother and daughterin the episode My Unlikely DreamPandemic Partner, directed by NageshKukunoor.

“She is someone whom I haveplayed all my life, so it was easy forme to play Mehrunisa and it'snothing to do with lockdown,Nagesh told me about the char-acter and I immediately said yesbecause I loved it,” Revathi said.

Speaking about her experienceplaying the role, Revathy said,“Sometimes the characters are just

written as mothers with a very type-cast and typical feel to it which makes itcommon, but sometimes mother reallyhave characterisation to it which makesthe story count their contribution and

changes the feelwhich this

script

has.”The

recently releasedtrailer of Modern LoveHyderabad has kept anticipationlevels up. The series is the secondof the three local editions of themuch-loved international anthol-ogy series, Modern Love. Theanthology is well known forshowcasing different shades oflove with its stories and talentedstar cast.

Modern Love Hyderabad is allset for its release on July 8 onAmazon Prime Video. The six-episode series is produced byElahe Hiptoola with NageshKukunoor as the showrunnerand the episodes are directed byNagesh Kukunoor, VenkateshMaha, Uday Gurrala and DevikaBahudhanam.

Revathyon her Modern

Love Hyderabadrole: She’s

someone I’veplayed all my

life

Actress AnasuyaBharadwaj, whowas most recently

seen in Gopi Chand’sPakka Commercial, is setto appear in an intrigu-ing web series.

Director Krish hasbeen preparing to launcha web series with aninteresting concept basedon the events of a prosti-tute’s life. AnasuyaBharadwaj will reported-ly play a prostitute in theadaptation of Telugunovelist Gurajada AppaRao’s Kanyasulakam.

Kanyasulakam is aplay written in the 1890sand has remained amongthe most popular onesover the years. Anasuyawill play Madhuravani, aprostitute who is thedrama’s protagonist.

The online series will

begin production soonunder director Krish.More information aboutthe same is expected tobe out shortly.

AnasuyaBharadwaj’sappearance inAllu Arjun’sPushpa, andRavi Teja’sKhiladi,marked a sig-nificanthype forher roles.However,it was herrole asRangammaAtha in RamCharan-starrerRangasthalamthat hadbrought hermuch appre-ciation.

Anasuya to playa prostitutein her next

Well-known filmeditor GauthamRaju, who has

worked in over 800 films,passed away at the age of68 on Tuesday.

According to the latestreports, Gautham Rajuwas going through med-ical treatments for somekidney-related issues inHyderabad, for the pastfew days. However, hishealth deteriorated at mid-night and took his lastbreath. The Telugu edi-tor’s mortal remains wereat his residence inMothinagar, Hyderabad,and the last rites tookplace on Wednesday.

Several celebrities andfans have been payingtheir tributes and offeringheartfelt condolences. Theindustry tracker Vamsiand Shekar confirmed thenews about GowthamRaju’s demise. The duotook to Twitter to paytheir last respects to thecelebrated technician.

“Senior EditorGautamraju garu passedaway. May his soul rest inpeace. Strength to family,friends, and loved ones,”they confirmed after shar-ing a photo of GowthamRaju on Twitter.

Sai Dharam Tej paid his

respects and tweeted,“Heartbroken at the loss ofEditor #GauthamRajuGaru,a man of great workand character, with whomI have worked closely dur-ing my initial phase ofcareer.You’ll always bealive in your work sir.Sending my strength tofamily and dear ones.#RIPGauthamRaju Garu."

“Tremendous loss to theindustry.. GauthamRajuGaru.. your work will betreasured forever. Strengthto his family and friends,”wrote Ram Charan.

“Saddened by thedemise of renowned editor#GowthamRaju garu. Mayhis soul rest in peace.Heartfelt condolences tothe family and loved ones,”wrote actor Gopichandwhile sharing a picture ofthe actor.

RRR and Baahubalimusic composer MMKeeravani tweeted,“Saddened by the prema-ture exit of Gouthamrajugaru. Happened to workwith him for Dhammu.Huge respect for hishumility and talent.”

Gautham Raju is bestknown for working forKick, Race Gurram, GopalaGopala, Khaidi No 150,and Adhurs.

Tollywood mournsthe death of senior

editor Gautham Raju

Oscar-winnerResulPookutty's

comment overRajamouli's magnumopus RRR branding ita gay romance led toa huge controversyon social media. Fanshave turned furiousand have starteddemanding hisouster from AlluArjun's prestigiousproject Pushpa: TheRule. Even thoughResul Pookutty triedto calm down thetempers, seems likethings have becomereally worse thistime. Some evenwent on to accuseResul Pookutty ofjealousy as Rajamoulidid not pick him upfor his projects.

Meanwhile, musicdirector Keeravani

who worked for RRRcame up with a sub-tle post and his reac-tion has led to a dis-cussion. Keeravanihad first posted apost and then deletedit and later came upwith another post.

Keeravani's actionsbecame a point ofdiscussion Keeravaniused lower andupper case words inhis post and he delet-ed it. While many feltthat Keeravani gave astrong counter, oth-

ers felt thatKeeravani realisedthat there were somedouble-meaningwords and deletedhis post and came upwith another post.

He said, “I am notable to see Ram andBheem charactersfrom RRR anymore(who looked like hav-ing shared a specialrelationship). All Ican see is a motherwaiting for a lifetimefor her daughterMalli who wasabducted. Hope myvision gets improvedsoon.”

Keeravani's reactiontriggers discussion